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1899. 




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The Life and Influence of 
Washington. 



Old South Meeting House, Boston, 
1899. 



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THE 



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OLD SOUTH LEAFLETS. 



SEVENTEENTH SERIES, 



1899. 



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BOSTON: 

OLD SOUTH MEETING-HOUSE. 

1899. 



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INTRODUCTION. 



The Old South Leaflets were prepared primarily for circulation 
among the attendants upon the Old South Lectures for Young People. 
The subjects of the Leaflets are immediately related to the subjects of the 
lectures, and they are intended to supplement the lectures and stimulate 
historical interest and inquiry among the young people. They are made 
up, for the most part, from original papers of the periods treated in the 
lectures, in the hope to make the men and the public life of the periods 
more clear and real. 

The Old South Lectures for Young People were instituted in the sum- 
mer of 1883, fs a means of promoting a more serious and intelligent atten- 
tion to historical studies, especially studies in American history among the 
young people of Boston. The success of the lectures has been so great as 
to warrant the hope that such courses may be sustained in many other 
cities of the country. 

The Old South Lectures for 1883, intended to be strictly upon subjects 
in early Massachusetts History, but by certain necessities somewhat modi- 
fied, were as follows : " Governor Bradford and Governor Winthrop," 
by Edwin D. Mead. "Plymouth," by Mrs. A. M. Dlaz. "Concord," 
by Frank B. Sanborn. "The Town-meeting," by Prof. James K. 
HosMER. " Franklin, the Boston Boy," by George M. Tovvle. "How 
to' study American History," by Prof. G. Stanley Hall. "The Year 
1777." by John Fiske. " History in the Boston Streets," by Edward 
Everett Hale. The Leaflets prepared in connection with these lectures 
consisted of (i) Cotton Mather's account of Governor Bradford, from the 
" Magnalia"; (2) the account of the arrival of the Pilgrims at Cape Cod 
from Bradford's Journal; (3) an extract from F:merson's Concord Address 
"1 i^3S'^ (4) extracts from Emerson, Samuel Adams, De Tocqueville, and 
others, upon the Town-meeting; (5) a portion of Franklin's Autobiogra- 
phy; (6) Carlyle on the Study of History; (7) an extract from Charles 
Sumner's oration upon Lafayette, etc.; (8) Emerson's poem, "Boston." 

The lectures for 1884 were devoted to men representative of certain 
epochs or ideas in the history of Boston, as follows : " Sir Harry Vane, in 
New England and in Old England," by Edward Everett Hale, Jr. 
"John Harvard, and the Founding of Harvard College," by Edward 
Channi^g, Ph.D. "The Mather Family, and the Old Boston Ministers," 
by Rev. Samuel J. Barrows. " Simon Bradstreet, and the Struggle for 
the Charter," by Prof. Marshall S. Snow. " Samuel Adams and the 
Beginning of the Revolution," by Prof. James K. Hosmer. " Josiah 
Quincy, the Great Mayor," by Charles W. Slack. "Daniel Webster, 
the Defender of the Constitution," by Charles C. Coffin. " John A: 
Andrew, the great War Governor," by CoL. T. W. Higginson. The 
Leaflets prepared in connection with the second course were as follows : 
{.!) Selections from Forster's essay on Vane, etc.; (2) an extract from 
Cotton Mather's "Sal Gentium"; (3) Increase Mather's "Narrative of 
the Miseries of New England"; (4) an original account of " The Revolu- 
tion in New England" in 1689; (5) a letter from Samuel Adams to John 



Adams, on Republican Government ; (6) extracts from Josiah Quincy's 
Boston Address of 1830; {7) Words of Webster; (8) a portion of Gover- 
nor Andrew's Address to the Massachusetts Legislature in January, 1861. 

The lectures for 1885 were upon " The War for the Union," as follows : 
"Slavery," by William Lloyd Garrison, Jr. "The Fall of Sumter," 
by Col. T. W. Higginson. "The Monitor and the Merrimac," by 
Charles C. Coffin. "The Battle of Gettysburg," by Col. Theodore 
A. DoDGK. "Sherman's March to the Sea," by Gen. William Cogswell. 
" The Sanitary Commission," by Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. " Abraham 
Lincoln," by Hon. John D. Long. "General Grant," by Charles C. 
Coffin. The Leaflets accompanying these lectures were as follows : (i) 
Lowell's " Present Crisis," and Garrison's Salutatory in the Liberator of 
January i, 183 1 ; (2) extract from Henry Ward Beecher's oration at Fort 
Sumter in 1865; (3) contemporary newspaper accounts of the engagement 
between the Monitor and the Merrimac; (4) extract from Edward Everett's 
address at the consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, with 
President Lmcoln's address; (5) extract from General Sherman's account 
of the March to the Sea, in his Memoirs ; (6) Lowell's " Commemoration 
Ode"; (7) extract from Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, the Emanci- 
pation Proclamation, and the Second Inaugural Address; (8) account of 
the service in memory of General Grant, in Westminster Abbey, with Arch- 
deacon Farrar's address. 

The lectures for 1S86 w'ere upon "The War for Independence," as 
follows: "Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry," by Edwin D. Mead. 
"Bunker Hill, and the News in England," by John P'iske. "The Declara- 
tion of Independence," by James MacAllister. "The Times that tried 
Men's Souls," by Albert B. Hart, Ph.D. " Lafayette, and Help from 
France," by Prof. Marshall S. Snow. "The Women of the Revolu- 
tion," by Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. " Wasiijuigton and his Generals^ 
by George M. Towle. "The Lessons of the R'evoTutibn for these 
Times," by Rf:v. Brooke Herford. The Leaflets were as follows: (i) 
Words of Patrick Henry; (2) Lord Chatham's Speech, urging the removal 
of the British troops from Boston ; (3) extract from Webster's oration on 
Adams and Jefferson; (4) Thomas Paine's "Crisis," No. i; (5) extract 
from Edward Everett's eulogy on Lafayette ; (6) selections from the Letters 
of A bigail Adams; (7) Lowell's "Under the Old Elm"; (8) extract from 
Whipple *slessayoir'*^Vashington and the Principles of the Revolution." 

The course for the summer of 1887 was upon " The Birth of the 
Nation," as follows : " How the men of the English Commonwealth planned 
Constitutions," by Prof. James K. Hosmer. " How the American Colo- 
nies^_gre\y together/' by,_JOHN Fiske. " l^he Confusion after the Revolu- 
tion," by X> A VIS R. bEWEY,'PH.D. "The Convention and the Constitu- 
tion," by Hon. John D. Long. " James Madison and his Journal," by 
Prof. Y.. B. Andrews. " How Patrick Henry opposed the Constitution," 
by Henry L. Southwick. "Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists 
— i^-Vi[aslvnSt£U}!s Part and the Nation's First Years," by Edward Everett 
Hale. The Leaflets prepared for these lectures were as follows: (i) 
Extract from Edward Everett Hale's lecture on " Puritan Politics in 
England and New England"; (2) "The English Colonies in America," 
extract from De Tocqueville's "Democracy in America"; (3) Wash- 
ington., Circular Letter to the Governors _pf the States on Disbanding 
v_the Army; (4) the Constitution of the United States'; (5) " The Last'Day 
of the Constitutional Convention," from Madison's Journal ; (6) Patrick 



Henry's First Speech against the Constitution, in the Virginia Convention; 
(7) the Federalist, No. IX.; (8) Washington's First Inaugural Address. . ■ ■? 

The course for the summer of 18S8 had the general title of " The Story 
of the Centuries," the several lectures being as follows : " The Great Schools 
after the Dark Ages," by Ephraim Fmerton, Professor of History in 
Harvard University. " Richard the Lion-hearted and the Crusades," by 
Miss Nina Moore, author of " Pilgrims and Puritans." " The World 
which Dante knew," by Shattuck O. Hartwell, Old South first prize 
essayist, 1883. "The Morning Star of the Reformation," by Rev. Philip 
S. MoxoM. " Copernicus and Columbus, or the New Heaven and the 
New Earth," by Prof. Edward S. Morse. "The People for whom 
Shakespeare wrote," by Charles Dudley Warner. " The Puritans and 
the English Revolution," by Charles H. Levermore, Professor of His- 
tory in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. " Lafayette and the 
Two Revolutions which he saw," by George Makepeace Towle. 

The Old South Lectures are devoted primarily to American history. 
But it is a constant aim to impress upon the young people the relations of 
our own history to Englibh and general European history. It was hoped 
that the glance at some striking chapters in the history of the last eight 
centuries afforded by these lectures would be a good preparation for the 
great anniversaries of 1889, and give the young people a truer feeling of 
the continuity of history. In connection with the lectures the young 
people were requested to fix in mind the following dates, observing that in 
most instances the date comes about a decade before the close of the cen- 
tury. An effort was made in the Leaflets for the year to make dates, 
which are so often dull and useless to young people, interesting, significant, 
and useful. — nth Century: Lanfranc, the great mediaeval scholar, who 
studied law at I^ologna, was prior of the monastery of Bee, the most famous 
school in P>ance in the lith century, and archbishop of Canterbury under 
William the Conqueror, died 1089. 12th Cent.: Richard I. crowned 
1189. 13th Cent. : Dante, at the battle of Campaldino, the final overthrow 
of the Ghibellines in Italy, 1289. Mth Cent.: Wyclif died, 1384. 15th 
Cent.: America discovered, 1492. i6th Cent.: Spanish Armada, 1588. 
17th Cent. : William of Orange lands in England, 1688. i8th Cent. : 
Washington inaugurated, and the Bastile fell, 1789. The Old South 
Leaflets for 1888, corresponding with the several lectures, were as follows : 
(I ) " The Early History of Oxford," from Green's " History of the English 
People,"; (2) "Richard Coeur de Lion and the Third Crusade," from the 
Chronicle of Geoffrey de Vinsauf; (3) "The Universal Empire," passages 
from Dante's De Alouarchia ; (4) " The Sermon on the Mount," Wyclif 's 
translation ; (5) " Copernicus and the Ancient Astronomers," from Hum- 
boldt's " Cosmos " ; (6) " The Defeat of the Spanish Armada," from Cam- 
den's "Annals"; (7) "The Bill of Rights," 1689; (8) " The Eve of the 
French Revolution," from Carlyle. The selections are accompanied by 
very full historical and bibliographical notes, and it is hoped that the 
series will prove of much service to students and teachers- engaged in 
the general survey of modern history. 

The year 1889 being the centennial both of the beginning of our own 
Federal government and of the French Revolution, the lectures for the 
year, under the general title of " America and France," were devoted en- 
tirely to subjects in which the history of America is related to tliat of 
France as follows: " Champlain, the Founder of Quebec," by Charles 
C. Coffin. "La Salle and the French in the Great West," by Rev. 



W. E. Griffis. "The Jesuit Missionaries in America," by Prof. James 
K. HosMER. " Wolfe and Montcalm : The Struggle of England and 
France for the Continent," by John Fiske. " Franklin in France," 
by George M. Towle. "The Frie4idship of Washingtori and Lafayette/L 
by Mrs. Abra Goold Woolson. "Thomas Jefferson" and the Louisiana 
Purchase," by Robert Morss Lovett, Old South prize essayist, 1888. 
"The Year 17S9," by Rev. Edward Everett Hale. The Leaflets for 
the year were as follows : (i) Verrazzano's account of his Voyage to Amer- 
ica ; (2) Marquette's account of his Discovery of the Mississippi; {3) Mr. 
Parkman's Histories; (4) the Capture of Quebec, from Parkman's " Con- 
spiracy of Pontiac"; (5) selections from Franklin's Letters from France; 
(6) Letters of Washington and Lafayette j (7) the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence ; (8) the French Declaration of the Rights of Man, 1789. 

The lectures for the summer of 1890 were on "I'he American Indians," 
as follows : " The Mound Builders," by Prof. Georcie H. Perkins. " The 
Indians whom our Fathers Found," by Gen. H. B. Carrington. " John 
Eliot and his Indian Bible," by Rev. Edward G. Porter. " King Philip's 
War," by Miss Caroline C. Stecker, Old South prize essayist, 1889. 
"The Conspiracy of Pontiac," by Charles A. Eastman, M.D., of the 
Sioux nation. " A Century of Dishonor," by Herbert Welsh. "Among 
the Zunis," by J. Walier Fewkes, Ph.D. " The Indian at School," by 
Gen. S. C. Armstrong. The Leaflets were as follows: (i) extract from 
address by William Henry Harrison on the Mound Builders of the Ohio 
Valley ; (2) extract from Morton's " New English Canaan " on the Manners 
and Customs of the Indians ; (3) John Eliot's " llnei Narrative of the Prog- 
ress of the Gospel, among the Indians of New England," 1670; (4) extract 
from Hubbard's "Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians" (1677) on 
the Beginning of King Philip's War; (5) the Speech of Pontiac at the 
Council at the River Ecorces, from Parkman's " Conspiracy of Pontiac"; 
(6) extract from Black Hawk's autobiography, on the cause of the Black 
Hawk War; (7) Coronado's Letter to Mendoza (1540) on his Explorations 
in New Mexico; (8) Eleazar Wheelock's Narrative (1762) of the Rise and 
Progress of the Indian School at Lebanon, Conn. 

The lectures for 1S91, under the general title of "The New Birth of the 
World," were devoted to the important movements in the age preceding 
the discovery of America, the several lectures being as follows : " The 
Results of the Crusades," by F. E. E. Hamilton, Old South prize essay- 
ist, 1883. " The Revival of Learning," by Prof. Albert B. Hart. " The 
Builders of the Cathedrals," by Prof. Marshall S. Snow. " The Changes 
which (Gunpowder made," by Frank A. Hill. "The Decline of the 
Barons," by William Everett. " The Invention of Printing," by Rev. 
Edward G. Porter. "When Michel Angelo was a IJoy," by Hamlin 
Garland. " The Discovery of America," by Rev. E. E. Hale. The 
Leaflets were as follows: (i) "The Capture of Jerusalem by the Cru- 
saders," from the Chronicle of William of Malmesbury ; (2) extract from 
More's "Utopia";. (3) " The Founding of Westminster Abbey," from 
Dean Stanley's " Historical Memorials of W"estminster Abbey " ; (4) " The 
Siege of Constantinople," from Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of the Roman 
Empire"; (5) "Simon de Montfort," selections from Chronicles of the 
time; (6) " Caxton at Westminster," extract from Blade's Life of William 
Caxton; (7) " The Youth of Michel Angelo," from Vasari's " Lives of the 
Italian Painters " ; (8) " The Discovery of America," from Ferdinand Colum- 
bus's life of his father. 



The lectures for 1892 were upon "The Discovery of America," as fol- 
lows : " What Men knew of the World before Columbus," by Prof. 
Edward S. Morse. " Leif Erikson and the Northmen," by Rev. Edward 
A. HoRTON. "Marco Polo and his Book," by Mr. O. W. Dimmick. 
"The Story of Columbus," by Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. " Americus 
Vespucius and the Early Books about America," by Rev. E. G. Porter. 
"Cortes and Pizarro," by Prof. Chas. H. Levermore. " De Soto and 
Ponce de Leon," by Miss Ruth Ballou- Whittemore, Old South prize 
essayist, 1891. " Spain, France, and England in America," by Mr. John 
FiSKE. The Leaflets were as follows : (i) Strabo's Introduction to Geog- 
raphy; (2) The Voyages to Vinland, from the Saga of Eric the Red; (3) 
Marco Polo's account of Japan and Java; (4) Columbus's Letter to 
Gabriel Sanchez, describing his First Voyage; (5) Amerigo Vespucci's 
account of his First Voyage ; (6) Cortes's account of the City of Mexico ; 
(7) the Death of De Soto, from the "Narrative of a Gentleman of 
Elvas " ; (8) Early Notices of the Voyages of the Cabots. 

The lectures for 1893 were upon " The Opening of the Great West," as 
follows: "Spain and France in the Great West," by Rev. William 
Elliot Griffis. "The North-west Territory and the Ordinance of 1787," 
by John M. Merriam. " Washington's Work in Opening th e West," by 
Edwin D. Mead. " Marietta. and the Western Reserve,'' by Miss Lucy 
W. W^arren, Old South prize essayist, 1892. " How the Great West was 
settled," by Charles C. Coffin. "Lewis and Clarke and the Explorers 
of the Rocky Mountains," by Rev. Thomas Van Ness. " California and 
Oregon," by Prof. Josiah Royce. " The Story of Chicago," by Mrs. 
Mary A. Livermore. The Leaflets were as follows: (i) De Vaca's 
account of his Journey to New Mexico, 1535; (-) Manasseh Cutler's De- 
scription of Ohio, 1787; (3) Washington's Journal of his Tour to the Ohio, 
1770; (4) Garfield's Address on the North-west Territory and the Western 
Reserve; (5) GLeoige.Rpgers Clark's account of the Capture of Vincennes, 
1779; (6) Jefferson's Life of ~ Captain Meriwether Lewis; (7) Fremont's 
account of his Ascent of Fremont's Peak ; (8) Father Marquette at Chi- 
cago, 1673. 

The lectures for 1894 were upon " The Founders of New England," as 
follows : " William Brewster, the Elder of Plymouth," by Rev. Edward 
Everett Hale. " William Bradford, the Governor of Plymouth," by 
Rev. William Elliot Griffis. " John Winthrop, the Governor of 
Massachusetts," by Hon. Frederic T. Greenhalge. "John Harvard, 
and the Founding of Harvard College," by Mr. William R. Thayer. 
" John Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians," by Rev. James De Normandie. 
" John Cotton, the Minister of Boston," by Rev. John Cotton Brooks. 
" Roger- Williams, the Founder of Rhode Island," by President F.. 
Benjamin Andrews. "Thomas Hooker, the Founder of Connecticut," 
by Rev. Joseph H. Twichell. The Leaflets were as follows : (i) Brad- 
ford's Memoir of Elder Brewster; (2) Bradford's First Dialogue; (3) 
Winthrop's Conclusions for the Plantation in New England ; (4) New 
England's First Fruits, 1643; (5) John Eliot's Indian Grammar Begun; 
(6) John Cotton's "God's Promise to his Plantation"; (7) Letters of 
Roger Williams to Winthrop; (8) Thomas Hooker's "Way of the 
Churches of New England." 

The lectures for 1895 were upon " The Puritans in Old England," as 
follows: "John Hooper, the First Puritan," by Edwin D. Mead; " Cam- 
bridge, the Puritan University," by William EvERErrj "Sir John Elipt 

\ 



8 

and the House of Commons," by Prof. Albert B. Hart ; " John Hamp- 
den and the Ship Money," by Rev. F. W. Gunsaulus; "John Pym and 
the Grand Remonstrance," by Rev. John Cuckson ; " OUver Cromwell 
and the Commonwealth," by Rev. Edward Everett Hale; "John 
Milton, the Puritan Poet," by John Fiske; " Henry Vane in Old England 
and New England," by Prof. James K. Hosmer. The Leaflets were as 
follows: (i) The English l^ible, selections from the various versions; (2) 
Hooper's Letters to Bullinger; (3) Sir John EJiot's "Apology for Soc- 
rates"; (4) Ship-money Papers ; (5) Pym's Speech against Strafford; (6) 
Cromwell's Second Speech ; (7) Milton's " Free Commonwealth " ; (8) Sir 
Henry Vane's Defence. 

The lectures for 1896 were upon " The American Historians," as follows : 
" Bradford and Winthrop and their Journals," by Mr. Edwin D. Mead ; 
"Cotton Mather and his ' Magnalia,' " by Prof. Barrett Wendell; 
" Governor Hutchinson and his History of Massachusetts," by Prof. 
Charles H. Levermore ; "Washington Irving and his Services for 
American History," by Mr. Richard Burton; "Bancroft and his His- 
tory of the United States," by Pres. Austin Scott; " Prescott and his 
Spanish Histories," by Hon. Roger Wolcott; " Motley and his History 
of the Dutch Republic," by Rev. William Elliot Griffis; " Parkman 
and his Works on France in America," by Mr. John Fiske. The Leaflets 
were as follows: (i) Winthrop's " Little vSpeech " on Liberty; (2) Cotton 
Mather's " Bostonian Ebenezer," from the " Magnalia " ; (3) Governor 
Hutchinson's account of the Boston Tea Party ; (4) Adrian Van der 
Donck's Description of the New Netherlands in 1655; (5) The Debate in 
the Constitutional Convention on the Rules of Suffrage in Congress ; (6) 
Columbus's Memorial to Ferdinand and Isabella, on his Second Voyage ; 
(7) The Dutch Declaration of Independence in 1581; (8) Captain John 
Knox's account of the Battle of Quebec. The last five of these eight 
Leaflets illustrate the original material in which Irving, Bancroft, Prescott, 
Motley, and Parkman worked in the preparation of their histories. 

The lectures for 1897 were upon "The Anti-slavery Struggle," as 
follows : " William Lloyd Garrison, or Anti-slavery in the Newspaper," by 
William Lloyd Garrison, Jr.; "Wendell Phillips, or Anti-slavery on 
ihe Platform," by Wendell Phillips Stafford; "Theodore Parker, 
or Anti-slavery in the Pulpit," by Rev. Edward Everett Hale ; " John 
G. Whittier, or Anti-slavery in the Poem," by Mrs. Alice Freeman 
Palmer ; " Harriet Beecher Stowe, or Anti-slavery in the Story," by Miss 
Maria L. Baldwin; "Charles Sumner, or Anti-slavery in the Senate," 
by Moorfield Storey; "John Brown, or Anti-slavery on the Scaffold," 
by Frank B. Sanborn; "Abraham Lincoln, or Anti-slavery Trium- 
phant," by Hon. John D. Long. The Leaflets were as follows: (i) The 
First Number of The Liberator ; (2) Wendell Phillips's Eulogy of 
Garrison ; (3) Theodore Parker's Address on the Dangers from Slavery ; 
(4) Whittier's account of the Anti-slavery Convention of 1833; (5) Mrs. 
Stowe's Story of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"; (6) Sumner's ^Speech on the 
Crime against Kansas; (7) Words of John Brown; (8) The First Lincoln 
and Douglas Debate. 

The lectures for 1898 were upon " The Old World in the New," as 
follows: "What Spain has done for America," by Rev. Edward (i. 
Porter; " What Italy has done for America," by Rev. William Elliot 
Griffis ; " What France has done for America," by Prof. Jean Charle- 



Magne Bracq ; " What England has done for America," by Miss Kath- 
arine CoMAN; "What Ireland has done for America," by Prof, F. 
Spencer Baldwin; "What Holland has done for America," by Mr. 
Edwin D. Mead; "What Germany has done for America," by Miss 
Anna B. Thompson; "What Scandinavia has done for America," by 
Mr. Joseph P. Warren. The Leaflets were as follows: (i) Account of 
the Founding of St. Augustine, by Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales ; 
(2) Amerigo "Vespucci's Account of his Third Voyage; (3) Champlain's Ac- 
count of the Founding of Quebec; (4) Barlowe's Account of the First 
Voyage to Roanoke; (5) Parker's Account of the Settlement of London- 
derry, N.H.; (6) Juet's Account of the Discovery of the Hudson River; 
(7) Pastorius's Description of Pennsylvania, 1700: (8) Acrelius's Account 
of the Founding of New Sweden. 

The lectures for 1S99 were upon "The Life and Influence of Washing- 
ton," as follows : "Washington in the Revolution," by Mr. John Fiske; 
"Washington and the Constitution," by Rev. Edward Everett Hale; 
"Washington as President of the United States," by Rev. Albert E. 
Winship; "Washington the True Expander of the Republic," by Mr. 
Edwin D. Mead ; " Washington's Interest in Education," by Hon. 
Alfred S. Roe; "The Men who worked with Washington," by Mrs. 
Alice Freeman Palmer; "Washington's Farewell Address," by Rev. 
Franklin Hamilton; "What the Worid has thought and said of 
Washington," by Prof. Edwin A. Grosvenor. The Leaflets were as 
follows: (i) Washington's Account of the Army at Cambridge in 1775; 
(2) Washington's Letters on the Constitution; (3) Washington's Inaug- 
urals; (4) Washington's Letter to Benjamin Harrison in 17S4; (5) Wash- 
ington's Words on a National University; (6) Letters of Washington and 
Lafayette; (7) Washington's Farewell Address; (8) Henry Lee's Funeral 
Oration on Washington. 

The Old South Leaflets, which have been published during the years 
since 1883 in connection with these annual courses of historical lectures at 
the Old South Meeting-house, have attracted so much attention and 
proved of so much service that the Directors have entered upon the pub- 
lication of the Leaflets for general circulation, with the needs of schools, 
colleges, private clubs, and classes especially in mind. The Leaflets are 
prepared by Mr. Edwin D. Mead. They are largely reproductions of im- 
portant original papers, accompanied by useful historical and bibliographi- 
cal notes. They consist, on an average, of sixteen pages, and are sold at 
the low price of five cents a copy, or four dollars per hundred. The aim 
is to bring them within easy reach of everybody. The Old South Work, 
founded -by Mrs. Mary Hemenway, and sdll sustained by provision of her 
will, is a work for the education of the people, and especially the education 
of our young people, in American history and politics ; and its promoters 
believe that few things can contribute better to this end than the wide cir- 
culation of such leaflets as those now undertaken. It is hoped that pro- 
fessors in our colleges and teachers everywhere will welcome them for use 
in their classes, and that they may meet the needs of the societies of young 
men ^nd women now happily being organized in so many places for histori- 
cal and political studies. Some idea of the character of these Old South 
Leaflets may be gained from the following list of the subjects of the first 
hundred numbers, which are now ready. It will be noticed that most of 
the later numbers are the same as certain numbers in the annual series. 



10 

Since 1S90 they are essentially the same, and persons ordering the Leaflets 
need simply observe the following numbers. 

No. 1. The Constitution of the United States. 2. The Articles of 
Confederation. 3. The Declaration of Independence. 4. Washington's' 
Farewell Address. 5. Magna Charta. 6. Vane's " Healing Question." 
7. Charter of Massachusetts liay, 1629. 8. Fundamental Orders of Con- 
necticut, 163S. 9. Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754. 10. Washington's 
^Inaugurals. 11. Lincoln's Inaugurals and Emancipation Proclamation. 
12. The P'ederalist, jSos. i a^id 2. 13. The Ordinance of 1787. 14. The 
Constitution of Ohio. 15. Washington's Circular Letter to the Gover- 
nors of the States, 17S3. IB. Washington's Letter to Benjamin Harrison, 
17S4. 17. \'errazzano's Voyage, I 524. 18. The Constitution of Switz- 
erland. 19. The Bill of Rights, 1689. 20. Coronado's Letter to Men- 
doza, 1540. 21. Eliot's Brief Narrative of the Progress of the Gospel 
among the Indians, 1670. 22. Wheelock's Narrative of the Rise of the 
Indian School at Lebanon, Conn., 1762. 23. The Petition of Rights, 1628. 
24. The Grand Remonstrance. 25. The Scottish National Covenants. 
26. The Agreement of the People. 27. The Instrument of Government. 
28. Cromwell's First Speech to his Parliament. 29. The Discovery of 
America, from the Life of Columbus by his son, Ferdinand Columbus. 
30. Strabo's Introduction to Geography. 31. The Voyages to Vinland, 
from the Saga of Eric the Red. 32. Marco Polo's Account of Japan and 
Java. 33. Columbus's Letter to Gabriel Sanchez, describing the First 
\'oyage and Discovery. 34. Amerigo Vespucci's Account of his First 
Voyage. 35. Cortes's Account of the City of Mexico. 36. The Death 
t)f De Soto, from the " Narrative of a Gentleman of Elvas." 37. Early 
Notices of the Voyages of the Cabots. 38. <^enry Lee's Funeral Oration 
on Washington. 39. De Vaca's Account of his Journey to New Mexico, 
1535. 40. Manasseh Cutler's Description of Ohio, 17S7. 41. Wash- 
ington's Journal of his Tour to the Ohio, 1 770. 42. Garfield's Address on 
the North-west Territory and the Western Reserve. 43. George Rogers 
HJlark's Account of the Capture of Vincennes, 1779. 44. Jefferson's Life 
of Captain Meriwether Lewis. 45. Fremont's Account of his Ascent of 
Fremont's Peak. 46. Father Marcjuette at Chicago, 1673. 47: Washing- 
ton's Account of the Army at Cambridge, 1775. 48. Bradford's Memoir 
of Elder Brewster. 49. Bradford's First Dialogue. 50. Winthrop's" Con- 
clusions for the Plantation in New England." 51. "New England's Fi'st 
Fruits," 1643. ^2. John Eliot's " Indian Grammar Begun." 53. John 
Cotton's "God's Promise to his Plantation." 54. Letters of Roger Will- 
iams to Winthrop. 55. Thomas Hooker's " Way of the Churches of New 
England." 56. The Monroe Doctrine: President Monroe's Message of 
1823. 57. The English Bible, selections from the various versions. 58. 
noo])er's" Letters to Bullinger. 59. Sir John Eliot's " Apology for Soc- 
rates." 60. Ship-money Papers. 61. Pym's Speech against Strafford. 
62. Cromwell's Second Speech. 63. Milton's " A Free Commonwealth." 
64. Sir Henry Vane's Defence. 65. -'Washington's Addresses to the 
J,^lMirches. 66. Winthrop's "Little Speech" on Liberty. 67. Cotton 
Mather's " Bostonian P^benezer," from the " Magnalia." 68. Governor 
Hutchinson's Account of the Boston Tea Party. 69. Adrian Van der 
Donck's Description of New Netherlands in 1655. ^^ The Debate in 
the Constitutional Convention on the Rules of Suffrage in Congress. 71. 
C^^lumbus's Memorial to Ferdinand and Isabella, on his Second Voyage. 
72. The Dutch Declaration of Independence in 15S1. 73. Captain John 



Knox's Account of the Battle of Quebec. 74. Hamilton's Report on the 
Coinage. 75. William Penn's Plan for the Peace of Europe. 76. Wash- 
ington's Words on a National University. 77. Cotton Mather's Lives 
of Bradford and Winthrop. 78. The First Number of The Liberator. 
79. Wendell Phillips's Eulogy of Garrison. 80. Theodore Parker's Ad- 
dress on the Dangers from Slavery. 81. Whittier's Account of the Anti- 
slavery Convention of 1833. ^2. Mrs. Stowe's Story of " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin." 83. Sumner's Speech on the Crime against Kansas. 84. The 
Words of John Brown. 85. The First Lincoln and Douglas Debate. 86. 
■AVashington's Account of his Capture of Boston. 87. The Manners 
and Customs of the Indians, from Morton's "New English Canaan." 
88. The Beginning of King Philip's War, from Hubbard's History of 
Philip's War, 1677. 89. Account of the Founding of St. Augustine, by 
Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales. 90. Amerigo Vespucci's Ac- 
count of his Third Voyage. 91.. Champlain's Account of the Founding 
of Quebec. 92. Barlowe's Account of the First Voyage to Roanoke. 
93. Parker's Account of the Settlement of Londonderry, N.PL 94. 
Juet's Account of the Discovery of the Hudson River. 95. Pastoiius's 
Description of Pennsylvania, 1700. 96. Acrelius's Account of the 
Founding of New Sweden. 97. Lafayette in the American Revolution. 
98. Letters of Washington and Lafayette. 99. Washington's Letters 
on the Constitution. 100. Robert Browne's " Reformation without 
Tarrying for Any." 

The leaflets, which are sold at five cents a copy or four dollars per 
hundred, are also furnished in bound volumes, each volume containing 
twenty-five leaflets : Vol. i., Nos. 1-25 ; Vol. ii., 26-50; Vol, iii., 51-75 ; 
Vol. iv., 76-100. Price per volume, $1.50. Title-pages with table of 
contents will be furnished to all purchasers of the leaflets who wish to 
bind them for themselves. Annual series of eight leaflets each, in 
paper covers, 50 cents a volume. 

Address DIRECTORS OF THE OLD SOUTH WORK, Old South 
Meeting-house, Boston. 



It is hoped that this list of Old South Lectures and Leaflets will meet 
the needs of many clubs and classes engaged in the study of history, as 
well as the needs of individual students, serving as a table of topics. The 
subjects of the lectures in the various courses will be found to have a 
logical sequence; and the leaflets accompanying the several lectures can 
be used profitably in connection, containing as they do full historical notes 
and references to the best literature on the subjects of the lectures. 




<©i[b J>out]^ Heaflct^ 



No. 



Washington at 
Cambridge. 



Washington's Letter to the President of Congress, on his Arrival 
AT Cambridge to take Command of the Army. 



Sir, 



Camp at Cambridge July lo, 1775. 



I arrived safe at this Place on the 3d inst., after a Journey 
attended with a good deal of Fatigue, and retarded by neces- 
sary Attentions to the successive Civilities which accompanied 
me in my whole Rout. Upon my arrival, I immediately 
visited the several Posts occupied by our Troops, and as soon 
as the Weather permitted, reconnoitred those of the Enemy. 
I found the latter strongly entrench'd on Bunker's Hill about 
a Mile from Charlestown, and advanced about half a Mile 
from the Place of the last Action, with their Gentries extended 
about 150 Yards on this side of the narrowest Part of the Neck 
leading from this Place to Charlestown ; 3 floating Batteries 
lay in Mystick River, near their camp; and one 20 Gun Ship 
below the Ferry Place between Boston and Charlestown. 
They have also a Battery on Copse Hill, on the Boston side, 
which much annoyed our Troops in the late attack. Upon 
the Neck, they are also deeply entrenched and strongly forti- 
fied. Their advanced Guards 'till last Saturday morning, occu- 
pied Brown's Houses, about a mile from Roxbury Meeting 
House and 20 roods from their Lines : But at that Time a 
Party from General Thomas's Camp surprized the Guard, 
drove them in and burnt the houses. The Bulk of their Army 
commanded by Genl. Howe, lays on Bunker's Hill, and the 
Remainder on Roxbury Neck, except the Light Horse, and a 
few Men in the Town of Boston. On our side we have thrown 
up Intrenchments on Winter and Prospect Hills, the Enemies 
camp in full View at the Distance of little more than a Mile. 
Such intermediate Points, as would admit a Landing, I have 



since my arrival taken care to strengthen, down to Sewall's 
Farm, where a strong Entrenchment has been thrown up. At 
Roxbury General Thomas has thrown up a strong Work on 
the Hill, about 200 Yards above the Meeting House which 
with the Broken-ness of the Ground and great Number of 
Rocks has made that Pass very secure. The Troops raised 
in New Hampshire, with a Regiment from Rhode Island 
occupy Winter Hill. A Part of those from Connecticut under 
General Puttnam are on Prospect Hill. The Troops in this 
Town are intirely of the Massachusetts : The Remainder of the 
Rhode Island Men, are at Sewall's Farm : Two Regiments of 
Connecticut and 9 of the Massachusetts are at Roxbury. The 
Residue of the Army, to the Number of about 700, are posted 
in several small Towns along the Coast, to prevent the Depre- 
dations of the Enemy : Upon the whole, I think myself author- 
ized to say, that considering the great Extent of Line, and the 
nature of the Ground we are as well secured as could be ex- 
pected in so short a Time and under the Disadvantages we 
labour. These consist in a Want of Engineers to construct 
proper Works and direct the men, a Want of Tools, and a suffi- 
cient Number of Men to man the Works in Case of an attack. 
You will observe by the Proceedings of the Council of War, 
which I have the Honor to enclose, that it is our unanimous 
Opinion to hold and defend these Works as long as possible. 
The Discouragement it would give the Men and its contrary 
Effects on the ministerial Troops, thus to abandon our Incamp- 
ment in their Face, form'd with so much Labor, added to the 
certain Destruction of a considerable and valuable Extent of 
Country, and our Uncertainty of finding a Place in all Respects 
so capable of making a stand, are leading Reasons for this 
Determination : at the same Time we are very sensible of the 
Difficulties which attend the Defence of Lines of so great 
extent, and the Dangers which may ensue from such a Division 
of the Army. 

My earnest Wishes to comply with the Instructions of the 
Congress in making an early and complete Return of the State 
of the Army, has led into an involuntary Delay in addressing 
you, which has given me much Concern. Having given orders 
for this Purpose immediately on my Arrival, and unapprized 
of the imperfect Obedience which had been paid to those of 
the like Nature from General Ward, I was led from Day to 
Day to expect they would come in, and therefore detained the" 
Messenger. They are not now so complete as I could wish, 
but much Allowance is to be made for Inexperience in Forms, 



3. 

and a Liberty which has been taken (not given) on this sub- 
ject. These Reasons I flatter myself will no longer exist, and 
of Consequence more Regularity and exactness in future pre- 
vail. This, with a necessary attention to the Lines, the Move- 
ments of the Ministerial Troops, and our immediate Security, 
must be my Apology, which I beg you lay before the Congress 
with the utmost Duty and Respect. 

We labor under great Disadvantages for Want of Tents, for 
tho' they have been help'd out by a Collection of now useless 
sails from the Sea Port Towns, the Number is yet far short of 
our Necessities. The Colleges and Houses of this Town are 
necessarily occupied by the Troops which affords another 
Reason for keeping our present Situation : But I most sin- 
cerely wish the whole Army was properly provided to take the 
Field, as I am well assured, that besides greater Expedition 
and Activity in case of Alarm, it would highly conduce to 
Health and discipline. As Materials are not to be had here, 
I would beg leave to recommend the procuring a farther supply 
from Philadelphia as soon as possible. 

I should be extremely deficient in Gratitude, as well as Jus- 
tice, if I did not take the first opportunity to acknowledge the 
Readiness and Attention which the provincial Congress and 
different Committees have shewn to make every Thing as con- 
venient and agreeable as possible : but there is a vital and 
inherent Principle of Delay incompatible with military service 
in transacting Business thro' such numerous and different 
Channels. I esteem it therefore my Duty to represent the In- 
convenience that must unavoidably ensue from a dependence 
on a Number of Persons for supplies, and submit it to the 
Consideration of the Congress whether the publick Service 
will not be best promoted by appointing a Commissary Gen- 
eral for these purposes. We have a striking Instance of the 
Preference of such a mode in the Establishment of Connecti- 
cut, as their Troops are extremely well provided under the 
Direction of Mr. Trumbull, and he has at different Times 
assisted others with various Articles. Should my Sentiments 
happily coincide with those of your Honors, on this subject, 
I beg leave to recommend Mr. Trumbull as a very proper 
Person for this Department. In the Arrangement of Troops 
collected under such Circumstances, and upon the Spur of 
immediate Necessity several Appointments are omitted, which 
appear to be indispensably necessary for the good Government 
of the Army, particularly a Quartermaster General, a Com- 
missary of Musters and a Commissary of Artillery. These I 



4 

must Earnestly recommend to the Notice and Provision of the 
Congress. 

I find myself already much embarrassed for Want of a Mili- 
tary Chest ; these embarrassments will increase every day : 
I must therefore request that Money may be forwarded as soon 
as Possible. The want of this most necessary Article, will I 
fear produce great Inconveniences if not prevented by an early 
Attention. I find the Army in general, and the Troops raised 
in Massachusetts in particular, very deficient in necessary 
Cloathing. Upon Inquiry there appears no Probability of 
obtaining any supplies in this Quarter, And the best Con- 
sideration of this Matter I am able to form, I am of Opinion 
that a Number of hunting Shirts not less than 10,000, would in 
a great Degree remove this Difficulty in the cheapest and 
quickest manner. I know nothing in a speculative View more 
trivial, yet if put in Practice would have a happier Tendency 
to unite the Men, and abolish those Provincial Distinctions 
which lead to Jealousy and Dissatisfaction, In a former part 
of this Letter I mentioned the want of Engineers ; I can hardly 
express the Disappointment I have experienced on this Sub- 
ject. The Skill of those we have, being very imperfect and 
confined to the mere manual Exercise of Cannon : Whereas — 
the War in which we are engaged requires a Knowledge com- 
prehending the Duties of the Field and Fortifications. If any 
Persons thus qualified are to be found in the Southern Col- 
onies, it would be of great publick Service to forward them 
with all expedition. Upon the Article of Ammunition I must 
re-echo the former Complaints on this Subject : We are so 
exceedingly destitute, that our Artillery will be of little Use 
without a supply both large and seasonable : What we have 
must be reserved for the small Arms, and that managed with 
the. utmost Frugality. 

I am sorry to observe that the Appointments of the General 
Officers in the Province of Massachusetts Bay have by no 
Means corresponded with the Judgement and Wishes of either 
the civil or Military. The great Dissatisfaction expressed on 
this Subject and the apparent Danger of throwing the Army 
into the utmost Disorder, together with the strong Representa- 
tions of the Provincial Congress, have induced me to retain 
the Commissions in my Hands untill the Pleasure of the Con- 
gress should be farther known, (except General Puttnanvs 
which was given the Day I came into Camp and before I was 
apprized of these Uneasinesses.) In such a Step I must beg 
the Congress will do me the Justice I believe, that I have been 



5 

actuated solely by a Regard to the publick Good. I have not, 
nor could have any private Attachments ; every Gentleman in 
Appointment, was an intire Stranger to me but from Character. 
I must therefore rely upon the Candor of the Congress for 
their favorable Construction of my Conduct in this Particular. 
General Spencer was so much disgusted at the preference 
given to General Puttnam that he left the Army without visit- 
ing me, or making known his Intentions in any respect. Gen- 
eral Pomroy had also retired before my Arrival, occasioned (as 
is said) by some Disappointment from the Provincial Congress. 
General Thomas is much esteemed and earnestly desired to 
continue in the service : and as far as my Opportunities have 
enabled me to judge I must join in the general opinion that 
he is an able good Officer and his Resignation would be a 
publick Loss. The postponing him to Pomroy and Heath 
whom he has commanded would make his Continuance very 
difficult, and probably operate on his Mind, as the like Circum- 
stance has done on that of Spencer. 

The State of the Army you will find ascertained with toler- 
able Precision in the Returns which accompany this Letter. 
Upon finding the Number of men to fall so far short of the 
Establishment, and below all Expectation, I immediately called 
a Council of the general Officers, whose opinion as to the mode 
of filling up the Regiments, and providing for the present 
Exigency, I have the Honor of inclosing together with the 
best Judgment we are able to form of the ministerial Troops. 
From the Number of Boys, Deserters, and Negroes which have 
been inlisted in the troops of this Province, I entertain some 
doubts whether the number required can be raised here ; and 
all the General Officers agree that no Dependance can be put 
on the militia for a Continuance in Camp, or Regularity and 
Discipline during the short Time they may stay. This un- 
happy and devoted Province has been so long in a State of 
Anarchy, and the Yoke of ministerial Oppression been laid 
so heavily^ on it that great Allowances are to be made for 
Troops raised under such Circumstances : The Deficiency of 
Numbers, Discipline and Stores can only lead to this Conclu- 
sion, that their Spirit has exceeded their Strength. But at the 
same Time I would humbly submit to the consideration of 
the Congress, the Propriety of making some farther Provision 
of Men from the other Colonies. If* these Regiments should 
be completed to their Establishment, the Dismission of those 
unfit for Duty on account of their Age and Character would 
occasion a considerable Reduction, and at all events they have 



been inlisted upon such Terms, that they may be disbanded 
when other Troops arrive : But should my apprehensions be 
reahzed, and the Regiments here not filled up, the publick 
Cause would suffer by an absolute Dependance upon so doubt- 
ful an Event, unless some Provision is made against such a 
Disappointment. 

It requires no military Skill to judge of the Difficulty of 
introducing proper Discipline and Subordination into an Army 
while we have the Enemy in View, and are in daily Expecta- 
tion of an Attack, but it is of so much Importance that every 
Effort will be made which Time and Circumstance will admit. 
In the mean Time I have a sincere Pleasure in observing that 
there are Materials for a good Army, a great number of able 
bodied Men, active zealous in the Cause and of unquestionable 
courage. 

I am now Sir, to acknowledge the Receipt of your Favor of 
the 28th Inst, inclosing the Resolutions of the Congress of 
the 27th ult. and a Copy of a Letter from the Committee 
of Albany, to all which I shall pay due Attention. 

General Gates and Sullivan have both arrived in good 
Health. My best Abilities are at all Times devoted to the 
Service of my Country, but I feel the Weight Importance and 
variety of my present Duties too sensibly, not to wish a more 
immediate and frequent Communication v/ith the Congress. 
I fear it may often happen in the Course of our present Oper- 
ations, that I shall need that Assistance and Direction from 
them which Time and Distance will not allow me to receive. 

Since writing the above, I have also to acknowledge your 
Favour of the 4th Inst, by Fessenden, and the Receipt of the 
Commission and Articles of War. The Former are yet 800 
short of the number required, this deficiency you will please 
supply as soon as you conveniently can. Among the other 
Returns, I have also sent one of our killed, wounded and miss- 
ing in the late Action, but have been able to procure no certain 
Account of the Loss of the ministerial Troops, my best Intelli- 
gence fixes it at about 500 killed and 6 or 700 wounded; but 
it is no more than Conjecture, the utmost Pains being taken on 
their side to conceal it. 

P.S, Having ordered the commanding Officer to give me 
the earliest Intelligence ^of every Motion of the Enemy, by 
Land or Water, discoverable from the Heighths of his Camp, 
I this inst , as I was closing my Letter received the enclosed 
from the Brigade Major. The Design of this Manoeuvre I 
know not, perhaps it may be to make a Descept some where 



along the Coast ; it may be for New York, or it may be prac- 
tised as a Deception on Us. I thought it not improper how- 
ever to mention the matter to you. I have done the same 
to the commanding Officer at New York, and I shall let it 
be known to the Committee of Safety here, so that the Intelli- 
gence may be communicated as they shall think best along 
the Sea Coast of this Government. 



On the 15th of June, 1775, Washington was appointed commander-in- 
chief of the American army by the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, 
of which he was a member. He arrived in Cambridge on the 2d of July, 
after a journey of eleven days; and on the next day, under the great elm 
which still stands by Cambridge Common, he took command of the army. 

On June 24 the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts appointed a com- 
mittee to consider the steps "proper to be taken for receiving General 
Washington with proper respect, and to provide a house for him accord- 
ingly." The report was made on the 25th, but was not perfected until the 
next day. ''^ Resolved^ that Doct. Benjamin Church and Mr. Moses Gill, 
be a committee to repair to Springfield, there to receive Generals Washing- 
ton and Lee, with every mark of respect due to their exalted characters and 
stations; to provide proper escorts for them, from thence, to the army 
before Boston, and the house provided for their reception at Cambridge; 
and to make suitable provision for them, in manner following, viz. : by a 
number of gentlemen of this colony from Springfield to Brookfield; and by 
another company raised in that neighborhood, from there to Worcester ; and 
by another company, there provided, from thence to Marlborough ; and 
from thence, by the troop of horse to that place, to the army aforesaid; 
and [to make suitable provision for] their company at the several stages on 
the road, and to receive the bills of expenses at the several inns, where it 
may be convenient for them to stop for refreshment, to examine them, and 
make report of the several sums expended at each of them, for that purpose, 
that orders may be taken by the Congress for the payment of them ; and 
all inn-keepers are hereby directed to make provision agreeably to the 
requests made by the said committee: and that General Ward be notified 
of the appointment of General Washington, as commander in chief of the 
American forces, and of the expectation we have, of his speedy arrival with 
Major General Lee, that he, with the generals of the forces of the other 
colonies, may give such orders for their honorable reception, as may accord 
with the rules and circumstances of the army, and the respect due to their 
rank, without, however, any expense of powder, and without taking the 
troops off from the necessary attention to their duty, at this crisis of our 
affairs." 

The appointment of Washington was soon known in the camp at Cam- 
bridge, and preparations were made to receive him. On the 26th of June 
the Provincial Congress had ordered that the " President's [of the College] 
house in Cambridge, excepting one room reserved for the president for his 
own use, be taken, cleared, prepared and furnished, for the reception of 
General Washington and General Lee." On June 29, the word of parole 
in Cambridge Camp was Washington, and of countersign, Virginia. July 
ist the Congress directed the committee in whose charge the orders respect- 
ing the house had been placed to "purchase what things are necessary that 



8 

they cannot hire," a matter of some delay and difficulty, as on the 5th the 
same committee was ordered to "complete the business." General Wash- 
ington arrived in Cambridge on Sunday, July 2, about two o'clock in the 
afternoon. The first of the general orders issued is dated July 3. On 
the 5th the Provincial Congress appointed some of its members to confer 
with Washington "on the subject of furnishing his table and know what 
he expects relative thereto." Some question may have been raised on the 
general acceptableness of the President's house for Washington's purposes, 
as on the 6th the Congress directed the Committee of Safety to "desire 
General Washington to let them know if there is any house at Cambridge 
that would be more agreeable to him and General Lee than that in which 
they now are ; and in that case the said Committee are directed to procure 
such house and put it in proper order for their reception." The general 
thought a change expedient, and on the 8th the Committee of Safety 
directed that the house of John Vassall, subsequently known as the 
" Craigie house," belonging to a refugee loyalist, should be immediately put 
in a proper condition for the reception of his excellency and his attendants. 
The student is referred to further notes in Ford's edition of Washing- 
ton's Writings, vol. iii. ; also to the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Histor- 
ical Society^ September, 1872. 



OLD SOUTH LEAFLETS, GENERAL SERIES. 



"No. I. The Constitution of the United States. 2. The Articles of Con- 
federation. 3. The Declaration of Independence. 4. Washington's Fare- 
well Address. 5. Magna Charta. 6. Vane's " Healing Question." 7. 
Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629. 8. Fundamental Orders of Connect- 
icut, 1638. 9. Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754. 10. Washington's In- 
augurals. II. Lincoln's Inaugurals and Emancipation Proclamation. 12. 
The Federalist, Nos. i and 2. 13. The Ordinance of 1787. 14. The Con- 
stitution of Ohio. 15. Washington's Circular Letter to the Governors of 
the States, 1783. 16. Washington's Letter to Benjamin Harrison, 1784. 17. 
Verrazzano's Voyage. 18. The Swiss Constitution, 19. The Bill of Rights, 
1689. 20. Coronado's Letter to Mendoza, 1540. 21. John Eliot's Brief 
Narrative of Work among the Indians, 1670. 22. Wheelock's Narrative of 
the Founding of his Indian School, 1762. 23. The Petition of Right, 1628. 
24. The Grand Remonstrance, 1641. 25. The Scottish National Covenants. 
26. The Agreement of the People, 1648-9. 27, The Instrument of Govern- 
ment, 1653. 28. Cromwell's First Speech to his Parliament, 1653. 29. The 
Discovery of America, from the Life of Columbus by his son, Ferdinand 
Columbus. 30. Strabo's Introduction to Geography. 31. The Voyages to Vinland, from 
the Saga of Eric the Red. 32. Marco Polo's Account of Japan and Java. 33. Columbus's 
Letter to Gabriel Sanches. describing the First Voyage and Discovery. 34. Americus Ves- 
pucius's Account of his First Voyage. 35. Cortes's Account of the City of Mexico. 36. 
The Death of De Soto, from the "Narrative of a Gentleman of Elvas." 37. Early Notices 
of the Voyages of the Cabots. 38. General Henry Lee's Funeral Oration on Washington, 
1 799- 39- Cabeza De Vaca's Relation of his Journey across Texas and New Mexico in 
1S35. 40 Manasseh Cutler's Description of Ohio, 1787. 41. Washington's Journal of his 
Tour to the Ohio River in 1770. 42. Gen. Garfield's Address on the Organization of the 
North-west Territory and the Settlement of the Western Reserve. 43. George Rogers 
Clark's Account of his Capture of Vincennes. 44. Jefferson's Life of Captain Meriwether 
Lewis. 45. Fremont's Account of the First Ascent of Fremont's Peak. 46. Marquette's 
Account of his Explorations about Chicago, 1673. 47. Washington's Account of taking 
Command of the Army, 1775. 

PUBLISHED BY 

THE DIRECTORS OF THE OLD SOUTH WORK, 

Old South Meeting: House, Boston. 




No. 99. 

Washington's 

Letters on the 

Constitution. 



To John Jay, August i, 1786. 

Your sentiments, that our affairs are drawing rapidly to a 
crisis, accord with my own. What the event will be, is also 
beyond the reach of my foresight. We have errors to correct. 
We have probably had too good an opinion of human nature 
in forming our confederation. Experience has taught us that 
men will not adopt and carry into execution measures the 
best .calculated for their own good, without the intervention 
of a coercive power. I do not conceive we can exist long as a 
nation without having lodged somewhere a power, which will, 
pervade the whole Union in as energetic a manner as the 
authority of the State governments extends over the several 
States. 

To-be fearful of investing Congress, constituted as that body 
is, with ample authorities for national purposes, appears to me 
the very climax of popular absurdity and madness. Could 
Congress exert them for the detriment of the public, without 
injuring themselves in an equal or greater proportion ? Are 
not their interests inseparably connected with those of their 
constituents ? By the rotation of appointment, must they not 
mingle frequently with the mass of citizens ? Is it not rather 
to be apprehended, if they were possessed of the powers before 
described, that the individual members would be induced to 
use them, on many occasions, very timidly and inefficaciously 
for fear of losing their popularity and future election .? We 
must take human nature as we find it. Perfection falls not 
to the share of mortals. Many are of opinion that Congress 
have too frequently made use of the suppliant, humble tone of 
requisition in applications to the States, when they had a right 



to assert their imperial dignity and command obedience. Be 
that as it may, requisitions are a perfect nuHity where thirteen' 
sovereign, independent, disunited States are in the habit of 
discussing and refusing compliance with them at their option. 
Requisitions are actually little better than a jest and a by-word 
throughout the land. If you tell the legislatures they have 
violated the treaty of peace, and invaded the prerogatives of 
the confederacy, they will laugh in your face. What then is to 
be done ? Things cannot go on in the same train forever. It 
is much to be feared, as you observe, that the better kind 
of people, being disgusted with the circumstances, will have 
their minds prepared for any revolution whatever. We are apt 
to run from one extreme into another. To anticipate and pre- 
vefit disastrous contingencies would be the part of wisdom and 
patriotism. 

What astonishing changes a few years are capable of produc- 
ing. I am told that even respectable characters speak of a 
monarchical form of government without horror. From think- 
ing proceeds speaking ; thence to acting is often but a single 
step. But how irrevocable and tremendous ! What a triumph 
for our enemies to verify their predictions ! What a triumph 
for the advocates of despotism to find that we are incapable of 
governing ourselves, and that systems founded on the basis of 
equal liberty are merely ideal and fallacious ! Would to God, 
that wise measures may be taken in time to avert the conse- 
quences we have but too much reason to apprehend. 

Retired as I am from the world, I frankly acknowledge I 
cannot feel myself an unconcerned spectator. Yet, having hap- 
pily assisted m bringing the ship into port, and having been 
fairly discharged, it is not my business to embark again on a 
sea of troubles. Nor could it be expected that my sentiments 
and opinions would have much weight on the minds of my 
countrymen. They have been neglected, though given as a last 
legacy in the most solemn manner. I had then perhaps some 
claims to public attention. I consider myself as having none 
at present. 

To James Madison, November 5, 1786. 

Fain would I hope that the great and most important of all 
subjects, the federal government, may be considered with that 
calm and deliberate attention, which the magnitude of it so 
critically and loudly calls for at this critical moment. Let pre- 



judices, unreasonable jealousies, and local interests yield to 
reason and liberality. Let us look to our national character, 
and to things beyond the present moment. No morn ever 
dawned more favorably than ours did ; and no day was ever 
more clouded than the present. Wisdom and good examples 
are necessary at this time to rescue the political machine from 
the impending storm. Virginia has now an opportunity to set 
the latter, and has enough of the former, I hope, to take the 
lead in promoting this great and arduous work. Without an 
alteration in our political creed, the superstructure we have 
been seven years in raising, at the expense of so much treasure 
and blood, must fall. We are fast verging to anarchy and con- 
fusion. 

By a letter which I have received from General Knox, who 
had just returned from Massachusetts, whither he had been 
sent by Congress consequent of the commotions in that State, 
is replete with melancholy accounts of the temper and designs 
of a considerable part of that people. Among other things he 
says : 

" Their creed is, that the property of the United States has been pro- 
tected from the confiscation of Britain by the joint exertions of all ; and 
therefore ought to be the common property of all ; and he that attempts op- 
position to this creed is an enemy to equity and justice, and ought to be 
swept from off the face of the earth." Again: "They are determined to 
annihilate all debts, public and private, and have agrarian laws, which are 
easily effected by the means of unfunded paper money, which shall be a 
tender in all cases whatever." He adds : " The number of these people 
amount in Massachusetts to about one fifth part of several populous coun- 
ties, and to them may be collected people of similar sentiments from the 
States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, so as to consti- 
tute a body of about twelve or fifteen thousand desperate and unprincipled 
men. They are chiefly of the young and active part of the community." 

How melancholy is the reflection, that in so short a space 
we should have made such large strides towards fulfilling the 
predictions of our transatlantic foes ! " Leave them to them- 
selves, and their government will soon dissolve." Will not the 
wise and good strive hard to avert this evil ? Or will their su- 
pineness suffer ignorance and the arts of self-interested, 
designing, disaffected and desperate characters to involve this 
great country in wretchedness and contempt ? What stronger 
evidence can be given of the want of energy in our govern- 
ment than these disorders ? If there is not power in it to 
check them, what security has a man for life, liberty, or prop- 



erty ? To you I am sure I need not add aught on this subject. 
The consequences of a lax or inefficient government are too 
obvious to be dwelt upon. Thirteen sovereignties pulling 
against each other, and all tugging at the federal head, will 
soon bring ruin on the whole ; whereas a liberal and ener- 
getic constitution, well guarded and closely watched. to prevent 
encroachments, might restore us to that degree of respectability 
and consequences, to which we had a fair claim and the bright- 
est prospect of attaining. 

To Henry Knox, Dece7nber 26, 1786. 

In both your letters you intimate that the men -of reflection, 
principle, and property in New England, feeling the inefficacy 
of their present government, are contemplating a change ; but 
you are not explicit with respect to its nature. It has been 
supposed that the constitution of the State of Massachusetts 
was amongst the most energetic in the Union. May not these 
disorders then be ascribed to an indulgent exercise of the 
powers of administration? If your laws authorized, and your 
powers are equal to the suppression of these tumults in the 
first instance, delay and unnecessary expedients were im- 
proper. These are rarely well applied ; and the same causes 
would produce similar effects in any form of government, if the 
powers of it are not exercised. I ask this question for in- 
formation. I know nothing of the facts. 

That Great Britain will be an unconcerned spectator of the 
present insurrections, if they continue, is not to be expected. 
That she is at this moment sowing the seeds of jealousy and 
discontent among the various tribes of Indians on our frontiers, 
admits of no doubt m my mind ; and that she will improve every 
opportunity to foment the spirit of turbulence within the bowels 
of the United States, with a view of distracting our governments 
and promoting divisions, is with me not less certain. Her first 
manttuvres in this will no doubt be covert, and may remain so 
till the period shall arrive Avhen a decided line of conduct may 
avail her. Charges of violating the treaty, and other pretexts, 
will then not be wanting to color overt acts, tending to effect 
the great objects of which she has long been in labor. A man 
is now at the head of their xAmerican affairs, well calculated to 
conduct measures of this kind, and more than probably was se- 
lected for the purpose. W'e ought not therefore to sleep nor to 



5 . 

slumber. Vigilance in watching and vigor in acting is become 
in my opinion indispensably necessary. If the powers are 
inadequate, amend or alter them ; but do not let us sink into 
the lowest state of humiliation and contempt, and become a 
by-word in all the earth. 

To Henry Knox, February 3, 1787. 

In your letter of the 14th you express a wish to be informed 
of my intention, respecting the convention proposed to be 
held in Philadelphia May next. In coiifi deuce I inform you, 
that it is not, at this time, my intention to attend it. When 
this matter was first moved in the Assembly of this State, some 
of the principal characters of it wrote to me, requesting they 
might be permitted to put my name in the delegation. To this 
I objected. They again pressed, and I again refused, assign- 
ing among other reasons my having declined meeting the So- 
ciety of the Cincinnati at that place about the same time, and 
that I thought it would be disrespectful to that body, to whom I 
owe much, to be there on any other occasion. Notwithstanding 
these intimations, my name was inserted in the act ; and an of- 
ficial communication thereof made by the executive to me, to 
whom, at the same time that I expressed my sense for the confi- 
dence reposed in me, I declared that, as I saw no prospect of 
my attending, it was my wish that my name might not remain 
in the delegation to the exclusion of another. To this I 
liave been requested in emphatical terms not to decide abso- 
lutely, as no inconvenience would result from the new appoint- 
ment of another, at least for some time yet. 

Thus the matter stands, which is the reason of my saying to 
^ou in confidence^ that at present I retain my first intention not 
to go. In the mean while, as I have the fullest conviction of 
^our friendship for and attachment to me, know your abilities 
to judge, and your means of information, I shall receive any 
communications from you on this subject with thankfulness. 
My first wish is to do for the best, and to act with propriety. 
You know me too well to believe that reserve or concealment 
of any opinion or circumstance would be at all agreeable to 
me. The legality of this convention I do not mean to discuss, 
nor how problematical the issue of it may be. That powers 
are wanting none can deny. Through what medium they are 
to be derived will, like other matters, engage the attention of 



the wise. That which takes the shortest course to obtain 
them, in my opinion will, under present circumstances, be 
found best ; otherwise, like a house on fire, whilst the most 
regular mode of extinguishing the flames is contended for, the 
building is reduced to ashes. My opinions of the energetic 
wants of the federal government are well known. My public 
annunciations and private declarations have uniformly ex- 
pressed these sentiments ; and, however constitutional it may 
be for Congress to point out the defects of the federal system, 
I am strongly inclined to believe that it would not be found 
the most efficacious channel for the recommendations, more 
especially the alterations, to flow, for reasons too obvious to 
enumerate.* 

The system on which you seem disposed to build a national 
government is certainly more energetic, and I dare say in every 
point of view more desirable than the present, which from ex- 
perience we find is not only slow, debilitated, and liable to be 
thwarted by every breath, but is defective in that secrecy, 
which, for the accomplishment of many of the most important 
national objects, is indispensably necessary ; and besides, hav- 
ing the legislative, executive, and judiciary departments con- 
centred, is exceptionable. But, at the same time that I gave 
this opinion, I believe the political machine will yet be much 
tumbled and tossed, and possibly be wrecked altogether, be- 
fore that or anything like it will be adopted. The darling 
sovereignties of each State, the governors elected and elect, 
the legislators, with a long tribe of et ceteras, whose political 
importance will be lessened, if not annihilated, would give 
their weight of opposition to such a revolution. But I may be 
speaking without book ; for, scarcely ever going off my own 
farms, I see few people, who do not call upon me, and am 
very little acquainted with the sentiments of the great public. 
Indeed, after what I have seen, or rather after what I have 
heard, I shall be surprised at nothing ; for, if three years since 
any person had told me that there would have been such 
a formidable rebellion as exists at this day against the laws 

*To Mr. Jay he wrote, touching upon the same subject, more than a month later: " I 
would fain try what the wisdom of the proposed convention will suggest, and what can be 
effected by their counsels. It may be the last peaceable mode of essaying the practicability 
of the present form, without a greater lapse of time, that the exigency of our affairs will 
allow. In strict propriety, a convention so holden may not be legal. Congress, however, 
may give it a coloring by recommendation, which would fit it more to the taste, without pro- 
ceeding to a definition of the powers. This, however constitutionally it might be done, would 
not in my opinion be expedient." — March loth. 



and constitution of our own making, I should have thought 
him a bedlamite, a fit subject for a mad-house. 

To James Madison, March 31, 1787. 

I am glad to find that Congress have recommended to the 
States to appear in the convention proposed to be holden 
in Philadelphia next May. I think the reasons in favor have 
the preponderancy over those against it. It is idle in my opin- 
ion to suppose that the Sovereign can be insensible to the 
inadequacy of the powers under which they act, and that, see- 
ing it, they should not recommend a revision of the federal 
system ; especially when it is considered by many as the only 
constitutional mode by which the defects can be remedied. 
Had Congress proceeded to a delineation of the powers, it 
might have sounded an alarm ; but, as the case is, I do not 
conceive that it will have that effect.* . . . 

I am fully of opinion that those who lean to a monarchical 
government have either not consulted the public mind, or that 
they live in a region which (the levelling principles in which 
they were bred being entirely eradicated) is much more pro- 
ductive of monarchical ideas, than are to be found in the 
southern States, where, from the habitual distinctions which, 
have always existed among the people, one would have ex- 
pected the first generation and the most rapid growth of them, 
I am also clear, that, even admitting the utility, nay, necessity 
of the form, yet that the period is not arrived for adopting the 
change without shaking the peace of this country to its founda- 
tion. That a thorough reform of the present system is indis- 
pensable, none, who have capacities to judge, will deny; and 
with hand [and heart] I hope the business will be essayed in 
a full convention. After which, if more powers and more de- 
cision is not found in the existing form, if it still wants energy 
and that secrecy and despatch (either from the non-attendance 
or the local views of its members), which is characteristic of 
good government, and if it shall be found (the contrary of 
which, however, I have always been more afraid of than of the 
abuse of them), that Congress will, upon all proper occasions, 

*Tlie commissioners, who had met at Annapolis in September, 1786, sent a letter to 
Congress, accompanied by their address to the several States, proposing a convention at 
Philadelphia on the second Monday of May. These papers were taken up by Congress, and 
referred to a committee, consisting of one member from each State, who reported in favor of 
recommending to the several legislatures to send delegates. 



exert the powers which are given, with a firm and steady hand, 
instead of frittering them back to the States, where the mem- 
bers, in place of viewing themselves in their national character, 
are too apt to be looking, — I say, after this essay is made, if 
the system proves inefficient, conviction of the necessity of a 
change will be disseminated among all classes of the people. 
Then, and not till then, in my opinion, can it be attempted 
without involving all the evils of civil discord. 

I confess, however, that my opinion of public virtue is so far 
changed, that I have my doubts whether any system, without 
the means of coercion in the sovereign, will enforce due obe- 
dience to the ordinances of a general government ; without 
which everything else fails. Laws or ordinances unobserved, 
or partially attended to, had better never have been made ; 
because the first is a mere nihil, and the second is productive 
of much jealousy and discontent. But what kind of coercion, 
you may ask. This indeed will require thought, though the 
non-compliance of the States with the late requisition is an 
evidence of the necessity. It is somewhat singular that a 
State (New York), which used to be foremost in all federal 
measures, should now turn her face against them in almost 
every instance. . . . 

It gives me great pleasure to hear that there is a probability 
of a full representation of the States in convention ; but, if the 
delegates come to it under fetters, the salutary ends proposed 
will, in my opinion, be greatly embarrassed and retarded, if not 
altogether defeated. I am desirous of knowing how this mat- 
ter is, as my wish is that the convention may adopt no tempor- 
izing expedients, but probe the defects of the constitution to 
the bottom, and provide a radical cure, whether they are 
agreed to or not. A conduct of this kind will stamp wisdom 
and dignity on their proceedings and hold up a light which 
sooner or later will have its influence.* 

* " It gives me pleasure to find by your letter, that there will be so full a representa- 
tion from this State. If the case had been otherwise, I would in emphatic terms have urged 
again that, rather than depend upon my going, another might be chosen in my place ; for, as 
a friend and in confidencej I declare to you, that my assent is given contrary to my judgment ; 
because the act will, I apprehend, be considered as inconsistent with my public declaration, 
delivered in a solemn manner at an interesting era of my life, never more to intermeddle in 
public matters. This declaration not only stands on the files of Congress, but is I believe 
registered in almost all the gazettes and magazines that are published; and w'hat adds to the 
embarrassment is, I had, previous t o my appointment, informed by a circular letter the sev- 
eral State Societies of the Cincinnati of my intention to decline the presidency of that order, 
and excused myself from attending the next general meeting at Philadelphia on the first 
Monday in May; assigning reasons for so doing, which apply as well in the one case as in 
the other. Add to these, I very much fear that all the States will not appear in convention, 
and that some of them will come fettered so as to impede rather than accelerate the great 



To Patrick Henry, Septeinbcr 2d,, 1787. 

In the first moment after my return, I take the Uberty of 
sending you a copy of the constitution, which the federal con- 
vention has submitted to the people of these States. I accom- 
pany it with no observations. Your own judgment will at once 
discover the good and the exceptionable parts of it; and your 
experience of the difficulties, which have ever arisen when at- 
tempts have been made to reconcile such variety of interests 
and local prejudices, as pervade the several States, will render 
explanation unnecessary. I wish the constitution, which is 
offered, had been made more perfect ; but I sincerely believe 
it is the best that could be obtained at this time. And, as a 
constitutional door is opened for amendment hereafter, the 
adoption of it, under the present circumstances of the Union, 
is in my opinion desirable. 

From a variety of concurring accounts it appears to me, 
that the political concerns of this country are in a manner sus- 
pended by a thread, and that the convention has been looked 
up to, by the reflecting part of the community, with a solici- 
tude, which is hardly to be conceived ; and, if nothing had 
been agreed on by that body, anarchy would soon have en- 
sued, the seeds being deeply sown in every soil. 



To Henry Knox, October, 1787. 

The constitution is now before the judgment-seat. It has, 
as was expected, its adversaries and supporters. Which will 
preponderate is yet to be decided. The former more than 
probably will be most active, as the major part of them will, it 
is to be feared, be governed by sinister and self-important 
motives, to which everything in their breasts must yield. The 
opposition from another class of them may perhaps (if they 
should be men of reflection, candor, and information), subside 
in the solution of the following simple questions: i. Is the 
constitution, which is submitted by the convention, preferable 
to the government (if it can be called one,) under which we 
now live ? 2. Is it probable that more confidence would at the 

object of their convening : which, under the peculiar circumstances of my case, would place 
me in a more disagreeable situation than anv other member would stand in. As I have 
yielded, howtver, to what appeared to be the earnest wishes of my friends, I will hope for the 
best."'— ]Vashmgto7i to Edjiiund Randolph, 9 April, 1787. 



lO 

time be placed in another convention, provided the experiment 
should be tried, than was placed in the last one, and is it 
likely that a better agreement would take place therein ? What 
would be the consequences if these should not happen, or even 
from the delay, which must inevitably follow such an experi- 
ment ? Is there not a constitutional door open for alterations 
or amendments ? and is it not likely that real defects will be as 
readily discovered after as before trial ? and will not our suc- 
cessors be as ready to apply the remedy as ourselves, if occa- 
sion should require it ? To think otherwise will, in my judg- 
ment, be ascribing more of the amor patric?^ more wisdom and 
more virtue to ourselves, than I think we deserve. 

It is highly probable that the refusal of our Governor and 
Colonel Mason to subscribe to the proceedings of the conven- 
tion will have a bad effect in this State ; for, as you well 
observe, they must not only assign reasons for the justification 
of their own conduct, but it is highly probable that these rea- 
sons will be clothed in most terrific array for the purpose of 
alarming.* Some things are already addressed to the fears of 
the people, and will no doubt have their effect. As far, how- 
ever, as the sense of this part of the country has been taken, 
it is strongly in favor of the proposed constitution. Further I 
cannot speak with precision. If a powerful opposition is given 
to it, the weight thereof will, I apprehend, come from the 
south side of James River, and from the western counties. 

To BusHROD Washington, A^ove??tber lo, 1787. 

That the Assembly would afford the people an opportunity 
of deciding on the proposed constitution, I had scarcely a 
doubt. The only question with me was, whether it would go 
forth under favorable auspices, or receive the stamp of disap- 
probation. The opponents I expected (for it ever has been 
that the adversaries to a measure are more active than its 
friends,) would endeavor to stamp it with unfavorable impres- 
sions, in order to bias the judgment, that is ultimately to 
decide on it. This is evidently the case with the writers in 
opposition, whose objections are better calculated to alarm the 
fears, than to convince the judgment of their readers. They 

* Randolph explained his position in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Delegates, 
10 October, 1787. It was widely circulated in the newspapers, and printed in pamphlet form. 
It was reprinted in Ford, Fainphlets on the Co}ustit7itiou, 359. 



II 

build their objections upon principles that do not exist, which 
the constitution does not support them in, and the existence of 
which has been, by an appeal to the constitution itself, flatly 
denied ; and then, as if they were unanswerable, draw^ all the 
dreadful consequences that are necessary to alarm the appre- 
hensions of the ignorant or unthinking. It is not the interest 
of the major part of those characters to be convinced ; nor will 
their local views yield to arguments, which do not accord with 
their present or future prospects. 

A candid solution of a single question, to w^iich the plainest 
understanding is competent, does, in my opinion, decide the 
dispute ; namely, Is it best for the States to unite or not to 
unite ? If there are men who prefer the latter, then unques- 
tionably the constitution which is offered must, in their esti- 
mation, be wrong from the w^ords, " We the people,'' to the 
signature, inclusively ; but those who think differently, and yet 
object to parts of it, would do well to consider, that it does not 
He with any one State, or the minority of the States, to super- 
struct a constitution for the whole. The separate interests, as 
far as it is practicable, must be consolidated ; and local views 
must be attended to, as far as the nature of the case will admit. 
Hence it is, that every State has some objection to the present 
form, and these objections are directed to different points. 
That which is most pleasing to one is obnoxious to another, 
and so vice versa. If then the union of the wdiole is a desira- 
ble object, the component parts must yield a little in order to 
accomplish it. Without the latter, the former is unattainable ; 
for again I repeat it, that not a single State, nor the minority 
of the States, can force a constitution on the majority. But, 
admitting the power, it will surely be granted, that it cannot be 
done without involving scenes of civil commotion, of a very 
serious nature. 

Let the opponents of the proposed constitution in this State 
be asked, and it is a question they certainly ought to have 
asked themselves, what line of conduct they would advise to 
adopt, if nine other States, of which I think there is little 
doubt, should accede to the constitution. Would they recom- 
mend that it should stand single? Will they connect it with 
Rhode Island ? Or even with two others checkerwise, and re- 
main with them, as outcasts from the society, to shift for them- 
selves ? Or will they return to their dependence on Great 
Britain ? Or, lastly, have the mortification to come in when 
they will be allowed no credit for doing so ? 



12 

The warmest friends and the best supporters the constitu- 
tion has, do not contend that it is free from imperfections ; but 
they found them unavoidable, and are sensible, if evil is likely 
to arise therefrom, the remedy must come hereafter ; for in the 
present moment it is not to be obtained : and, as there is 
a constitutional door open for it, I think the people (for it is 
with them to judge), can. as they will have the advantage of 
experience on their side, decide with as much propriety on the 
alterations and amendments which are necessary, as ourselves. 
I do not think we are more inspired, have more wisdom, or 
possess more virtue, than those who will come after us. 

The power under the constitution will always be in the 
people. It is intrusted for certain defined purposes, and for 
a certain limited period, to representatives of their own choos- 
ing : and, whenever it is executed contrary to their interest, or 
not agreeable to their wishes, their servants can and un- 
doubtedly will be recalled. It is agreed on all hands, that no 
government can be well administered without powers ; yet, the 
instant these are delegated, although those, who are intrusted 
wnth the administration, are no more than the creatures of the 
people, act as it were but for a day, and are amenable for 
every false step they take, they are, from the moment they 
receive it, set down as tyrants ; their natures, they would con- 
ceive from this, immediately changed, and that they can have 
no other disposition but to oppress. Of these things, in a 
government constituted and guarded as ours is, I have no idea ; 
and do firmly believe, that, whilst many ostensible reasons are 
assigned to prevent the adoption of it, the real ones are con- 
cealed behind the curtains, because they are not of a nature 
to appear in open day. I believe further, supposing them 
pure, that as great evils result from too great jealousy as from 
the want of it. We need look, I think, no further for proof 
of this, than to the constitution of some, if not all, of these 
States. Xo man is a warmer advocate for proper restraints 
and wholesome checks in every department of government, than 
I am ; but I have never yet been able to discover the propriety 
of placing it absolutely out of the power of men to render 
essential services, because a possibilitv remains of their doing 
ill. 



To David ^vva^t, Noi'embe?- t^o, 1787- 

I have seen no publication yet, that ought in my judgment 
to shake the proposed constitution in the mind of an impartial 
and candid public. In fine, I have hardly seen one, that is 
not addressed to the passions of the people, and obviously cal- 
culated to alarm their fears. Every attempt to amend the con- 
stitution at this time is in my opinion idle and vain. If there 
are characters, who prefer disunion, or separate confederacies, 
to the general government, which is offered to them, their 
opposition may, for aught I know, proceed from principle ; but 
as nothing, according to my conception of the matter, is more 
to be deprecated than a disunion or these distinct confeder- 
acies, as far as my voice can go it shall be offered in favor 
of the latter. That there are some writers, and others perhaps 
who may not have written, that wish to see this union divided 
into several confederacies, is pretty evident. As an antidote 
to these opinions, and in order to investigate the ground of 
objections to the constitution which is submitted, the Fed- 
erals f, under the signature of Publius, is written. The 
numbers, which have been published, I send you. If there 
is a printer in Richmond, who is really well disposed to sup- 
port the new constitution, he would do well to give them 
a place in his paper. They are, I think I may venture to say, 
written by able men; and before they are finished will, or I 
am mistaken, place matters in a true point of light. Although 
I am acquainted with the writers, who have a hand in this 
work, I am not at liberty to mention names, nor would I have 
it known that they are sent by me to yon for promulgation.* 

To Edmund Randolph, /^?;///'^7;7 8, 1788. 

The diversity of sentiments upon the important matter, 
which has been submitted to the people, was as much expected 
as it is regretted by me. The various passions and motives^ 

* " Pray, if it is not a secret, who is the author or authors of Publius.-'" — Washington to 
Knox, 5 February, 7788. 

October 30th, Hamilton sent to Washington the first lumber of the Federalist, without 
any intimation as to the authorship. '' For the remaining numbers of Publius,'' wrote 
W'ashington in reply, " I shall acknowledge myself obliged", as I am persuaded the subject 
will be well handled by the author of them.' November iSth, Madison sent him seven 
numbers, suggesting that they be republished in Virginia, and saying that his own degree of 
connecticn with the publication was such as to " afford a restraint of delicacy from interesting 
myself directly in the republication elsewhere. You will recognize one of the pens concerned 
ill the task. There are three in the whole. A fourth may possibly bear a part " 



14 

by which men are influenced, are concomitants of faUibihty, 
engrafted into our nature for the purposes of unerring wis- 
dom ; but, had I entertained a latent hope (at the time you 
moved to have the constitution submitted to a second conven- 
tion,) that a more perfect form would be agreed to, in a word, 
that any constitution would be adopted under the impressions 
and instructions of the members, the publications, which have 
taken place since, would have eradicated every form of it. 
How do the sentiments of the influential characters in this 
State, who are opposed to the constitution, and have favored 
the public with their opinions, quadrate with each other ? Are 
they not at variance on some of the most important points ? 
If the opponents in the same State cannot agree in their princi- 
ples, what prospect is there of a coalescence wdth the advocates 
of the measure, when the different views and jarring interests of 
so wade and extended an empire are to be brought forward and 
combated ? 

To my judgment it is more clear than ever, that an attempt 
to amend the constitution, which is submitted, would be pro- 
ductive of more heat and greater confusion than can well be 
conceived. There are some things in the new form, I will 
readily acknowledge, which never did, and I am persuaded 
never will, obtain my cordial approbation ; but I then did con- 
ceive, and do now most firmly believe, that in the aggregate it 
is the best constitution, that can be obtained at this epoch, and 
that this, or a dissolution of the Union, awaits our choice, and 
are the only alternatives before us. Thus believing, I had not,, 
nor have I now, any hesitation in deciding on which to lean. 

To THE Marquis de Chastellux, y://;-// 25, 1788. 

The constitution which was proposed by the federal conven- 
tion has been adopted by the States of Massachusetts, Connec- 
ticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Georgia. No 
State has rejected it. The convention of Maryland is now 
sitting, and will probably adopt it ; as that of South Carolina 
is expected to do in May. The other conventions will assem- 
ble early in the summer. Hitherto there has been much greater 
unanimity in favor of the proposed government, than could have 
reasonably been expected. Should it be adopted (and I think 
it will be), America will lift up her head again, and in a few 
years become respectable among .the nations. It is a flattering 



IS 

and consolatory reflection, that our rising republics have the 
good wishes of all the philosophers, patriots, and virtuous men 
in all nations ; and that they look upon them as a kind of asy- 
lum for mankind. God grant that we may not disappoint their 
honest expectations by our folly or perverseness. . . . 

To Thomas Jefferson, ^//^'■//j-/ 31, 1788. 

The merits and defects of the proposed constitution have 
been largely and ably discussed. For myself, I was ready to 
have embraced any tolerable compromise, that was competent 
to save us from impending, ruin ; and I can say there are 
scarcely any of the amendments, which have been suggested, 
to which I have much objection, except that which goes to the 
prevention of direct taxation. And that, I presume, will be 
more strenuously advocated and insisted upon hereafter, than 
any other. I had indulged the expectation, that the new 
government would enable those entrusted with its admin- 
istration to do justice to the public creditors, and retrieve 
the national character. But, if no means are to be employed 
but requisitions, that expectation was vain, and we may as w^ell 
recur to the old confederation. If the system can be put in 
operation, without touching niuch the pockets of the people, 
perhaps it may be done ; but, in my judgment, infinite circum- 
spection and prudence are yet necessary in the experiment. 
It is nearly impossible for anybody who has not been on the 
spot (from any description) to conceive what the delicacy and 
danger of our situation have been. Though the peril is not 
past entirely, thank God the prospect is somewhat brightening. 

You will probably have heard, before the receipt of this 
letter, that the general government has been adopted by eleven 
States, and that the actual Congress have been prevented from 
issuing their ordinance for carrying it into execution, in conse- 
quence of a dispute about the place at which the future Con- 
gress shall meet. It is probable, that Philadelphia or .New 
York will soon be agreed upon. 

I will just touch on the bright side of our national state, 
before I conclude ; and we may perhaps rejoice, that the 
people have been ripened by misfortune for the reception of 
a good government. They are emerging from the gulf of dissi- 
pation and debt, into which they had precipitated themselves 
at the close of the war. Economy and industry are evi- 



i6 

dently gaining ground. Not only agriculture, but even manu- 
factures, are much more attended to than formerly. Not- 
withstanding the shackles under which our trade in general 
labors, commerce to the East Indies is prosecuted with con- 
siderable success. Salted provisions and other produce (par- 
ticularly from Massachusetts,) have found an advantageous 
market there. The voyages are so much shorter, and the 
vessels are navigated at so much less expense, that we may 
hope to rival aud supply, (at least through the West Indies,) 
some part of Europe with commodities from" thence. This 
year the exports from Massachusetts have amounted to a great 
deal more than their imports. I wish this w^as the case every- 
where. ... 

To Henry Lee, Septe??iher 22, 1788. 

Your observations on the solemnity of the crisis, and its 
application to myself, bring before me subjects of the most 
momentous and interesting nature. In our endeavors to es- 
tablish a new general government, the contest, nationally 
considered, seems not to have been so much for glory as 
existence. It was for a long time doubtful w^hether we were 
to survive as an independent republic, or decline from our 
federal dignity into insignificant and wretched fragments of 
an empire. The adoption of the constitution so extensively, 
and wdth so liberal an acquiescence on the part of the minori- 
ties in general, promised the former ; until lately the circular 
letter of New York carried, in my apprehension, an unfavor- 
able if not an insidious tendency to a contrary policy. I still 
hope for the best ; but, before you mentioned it, I could not 
help fearing it would serve as a standard to which the dis- 
affected might resort. It is now evidently the part of all 
honest men, who are friends to the new constitution, to en- 
deavor to give it a chance to disclose its merits and defects, 
by carrying it fairly into effect in the first instance. For it is 
to be apprehended that, by an attempt to obtain amendments 
before the experiment has been candidly made, " more is 
meant than meets the ear," that an intention is concealed to 
accomplish slyly what could not have been done openly, to 
undo all that has been done. 

If the fact so exists, that a kind of combination is forming 
to stifle the government in embryo, it is a happy circumstance 
that the design has become suspected. Preparations should 



be the sure attendant upon forewarning. Probably prudence 
wisdom, and patriotism were never more essentially necessary, 
than at the present moment ; and so far as it can be done in 
an irreproachably direct manner, no effort ought to be left 
unessayed to procure the election of the best possible charac- 
ters to the new Congress. On their harmony, deliberation, 
and decision everything wall depend. I heartily wish Mr. 
Madison was in our Assembly, as I think with you it is of 
unspeakable importance Virginia should set out with her fed- 
eral measures under right auspices. 

The principal topic of your letter is to me a point of great 
delicacy indeed, insomuch that I can scarcely without some 
impropriety touch upon it. In the first place, the event to 
which you allude may never happen ; among other reasons, 
because, if the partiality of my fellow citizens conceive it to 
be a means by which the sinews of the new government would 
be strengthened, it will of consequence be obnoxious to those 
who are in opposition to it, many of whom unquestionably 
will be placed among the electors. 

This consideration alone would supersede the expediency of 
announcing any definite and irrevocable resolution. You are 
among the small number of those who know my invincible 
attachment to domestic life, and that my sincerest wish is to 
continue in the enjoyment of it solely until my final hour. But 
the world would be neither so well instructed, nor so candidly 
disposed, as to beUeve me uninfluenced by sinister motives, in 
case any circumstance should render a deviation from the line 
of conduct I had prescribed to myself indispensable. 

Should the contingency you suggest take place, and (for 
argument's sake alone let me say it) should my unfeigned re- 
luctance to accept the office be overcome by a deference for 
the reasons and opinions of my friends, might I not, after the 
declarations I have made (and Heaven knows they were made 
in the sincerity of my heart), in the judgment of the impartial 
world and of posterity, be chargeable with levity and inconsist- 
ency, if not with rashness and ambition ? Nay, farther, would 
there not even be some apparent foundation for the two 
former charges J Now justice to myself and tranquillity of 
conscience require that I should act a part, if not abo\;e impu- 
tation, at least capable of vindication. Nor will you conceive 
me to be too solicitous for reputation. Though I prize as I 
ought the good opinion of my fellow citizens, yet, if I know 



i8 

myself, I would not seek or retain popularity at the expense of 
one social duty or moral virtue. 

While doing what my conscience informed me was right, as 
it respected my God, my country, and myself, I could despise 
all the party clamor and unjust censure, which must be ex- 
pected from some whose personal enmity might be occasioned 
by their hostility to the government. I am conscious that I 
fear alone to give any real occasion for obloquy, and that I do 
not dread to meet with unmerited reproach. And certain I 
am, whensoever I shall be convinced the good of my country 
requires my reputation to be put in risk, regard for my own 
fame will not come in competition with an object of so much 
magnitude. If I declined the task, it would lie upon quite 
another principle. Notwithstanding my advanced season of 
life, my increasing fondness for agricultural amusements, and 
my growing love of retirement, augment and confirm my de- 
cided predilection for the character of a private citizen, yet it 
would be no one of these motives, nor the hazard to which my 
former reputation might be exposed, nor the terror of en- 
countering new fatigues and troubles, that would deter me from 
an acceptance ; but a belief that some other person, who had 
less pretence and less inclination to be excused, could execute 
all the duties fully as satisfactorily as myself. To say more 
would be indiscreet, as a disclosure of a refusal beforehand 
might incur the application of the fable in which the fox is 
represented as undervaluing the grapes he could not reach. 
You will perceive, my dear Sir, by what is here observed, (and 
which you will be pleased to consider in the light of a confi- 
dential communication,) that my inclinations will dispose and 
decide me to remain as I am, unless a clear and insurmount- 
able conviction should be impressed on my mind that some very 
disagreeable consequences must, in all human probability, 
result from the indulgence of my wishes. 

To Alexander Hamilton, October t^^ 1788.* 

Although I could not help observing, from several publica- 
tions and letters, that my name had been sometimes spoken 
of, and that it was possible the cofitingeficy which is the subject 

* See Hamilton's letter upon the importance of Washington serving as first President of 
the L'nited States under the Constitution, in Ford's edition of Washington, xi. 329. "On 
your acceptance of the office of President,'' Hamilton wrote, " the success of the new govern- 
ment in its commencement may materially depend." 



19. 

of your letter might happen, yet I thought it best to maintain 
a guarded silence, and to lack the counsel of my best friends, 
(which I certainly hold in the highest estimation,) rather than 
to hazard an imputation unfriendly to the delicacy of my feel- 
ings. For, situated as I am, I could hardly bring the question 
into the slightest discussion, or ask an opinion even in the 
most confidential manner, without betraying, in my judgment, 
some impropriety of conduct, or without feeling an apprehen- 
sion, that a premature display of anxiety might be construed 
into a vainglorious desire of pushing myself into notice as a 
candidate. Now, if 1 am not grossly deceived in myself, 
I should unfeignedly rejoice in case the electors, by giving 
their votes in favor of some other person, would save me from 
the dreaded dilemma of being forced to accept or refuse. 

If that may not be, I am in the next place earnestly desirous 
of searching out the truth, and of knowing whether there does 
not exist a probability that the government would be just as 
happily and effectually carried into execution without my aid 
as with it. I am truly solicitous to obtain all the previous 
information, which the circumstances will afford, and to deter- 
mine (when the determination can with propriety be no longer 
postponed) according to the principles of right reason, and the 
dictates of a clear conscience, without too great a reference to 
the unforeseen consequences, which may affect my person or 
reputation. Until that period, I may fairly hold myself open 
to conviction, though I allow your sentiments to have weight 
in them ; and I shall not pass by your arguments without giv- 
ing them as dispassionate a consideration as I can possibly 
bestow upon them. 

In taking a survey of the subject, in whatever point of light 
I have been able to place it, 1 will not suppress the acknowl- 
edgment, my dear Sir, that I have always felt a kind of gloom 
upon my mind, as often as I have been taught to expect I 
might, and perhaps must, ere long, be called to make a decision. 
You will, I am well assured, believe the assertion, (though I 
have little expectation it would gain credit from those who are 
less acquainted with me,) that, if I should receive the appoint- 
ment, and if I should be prevailed upon to accept it, the ac- 
ceptance would be attended with more diffidence and reluctance 
than I ever experienced before in my life. It would be, how- 
ever, with a fixed and sole determination of lending w'hatever 
assistance might be in my power to promote the public weal, in 



20 



hopes that at a convenient and early period my services might 
be dispensed with, and that I might be permitted once more to 
retire, to pass an unclouded evening after the stormy day of 
life, in the bosom of domestic tranquillity. 



The personal influence of Washington in securing the meeting of the 
Constitutional Convention, in directing its deliberations, and in commending 
the new constitution to the people, was the greatest and the determning in- 
fluence in that critical period. The accompanying selections from his large 
correspondence upon this important subject while it was pending will indi- 
cate the character of that influence and of Washington's sentiments con- 
cerning the new national government. The student is referred to Volume 
XI. of Ford's edition of the writings of Washington for the complete col- 
lection of his letters during this period. He will also find in that volume 
(page 140) Washington's Diarv during the Constitutional Convention, 
which, although but a skeleton, will give him an insight into Washington's 
life in Philadelphia from May to September, 1787. In the various Lives 
of Washington, in the last volume of Bancroft's History of the United 
States, in Fiske's " Critical Period of American Histor}-," and elsewhere 
are good accounts of the disorders following the Revolution, to which the 
earlier letters in the present leaflet relate, and of the successful measures, 
so largely directed by Washington, which gradually brought order out of 
chaos. In theseries of Old South Leaflets are many which will be of use 
in this connection. Among these are Washington's Circular Letter to the 
governors of the States in 17S3 (No. 15). Washington's Letter to Benjamin 
Harrison in 17S4 (No. 16), Selection from the Debates in the Constitu- 
tional Convention (No. 70), Selections from the Federalist (No. 12), and 
Washington's Inaugural (No. 10). 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE DIRECTORS OF THE OLD SOUTH WORK, 
Old South Meeting-house, Boston, Mass. 




<©Iti J^outl^ Ecaflet^ 



General Series No. io. 



Washington's 
Inaugurals. 



INAUGURAL SPEECH 

To both Houses of Congress, April jo, ijSg. 



Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: 

Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could hav( 
filled me with greater anxieties, than that of which the notifica 
tion was transmitted by your order, and received on the i4tl 
day of the present month. On the one hand, I was summonec 
by my country, whose voice I can never hear but with venera 
tion and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fond 
est predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutabh 
decision, as the asylum of my declining years ; a retreat whicl 
was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear t( 
me, by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent inter 
ruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it b] 
time. On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the 
trust, to which the voice of my country called me, being suffi 
cient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citi 
zens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not bu 
overwhelm with despondence one, who, inheriting inferior en 
dovvments from nature, and unpracticed in the duties of civi 
administration, ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own de 
ficiencies. In this conflict of emotions, all I dare aver is, that i 
has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a jiist appre 
elation of every circumstance by which it might be affected. Al 
I dare hope is, that, if in executing this task, I have been to( 
much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, o: 
by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of th( 
confidence of my fellow-citizens ; and have thence too little con 
suited my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weights 
and untried cares before me ; my error will be palliated by th( 



motives which misled me, and its consequences be judged by 
my country with some share of the partiality in which they orig- 
inated. 

Such being the impressions under which I have, in obediA 
ence to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it 
would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first olBcial act, my 
fervent supplications to that Almighty Being, who rules over 
the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose ~ 
providential aids can supply every human defect, that his bene- 
diction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the peo- 
ple of the United States a government instituted by themselves 
for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument 
employed in its administration to execute with success the func- 
tions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the 
great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself 
that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own ; nor 
those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either. ' No people 
can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, 
which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the 
United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the 
character of an independent nation, seems to have been distin- 
guished by some token of providential agency. And, in the im- 
portant revolution just accomplished in the system of their 
united government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary 
consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event 
has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most 
governments have been established, without some return of pious 
gratitude along with an humble anticipation of the future bless- 
ings which the past seems to presage. These reflections, arising 
out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on 
my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in 
thinking that there are none, under the influence of which the 
proceedings of a new and free government can more auspi- 
ci*ously commence. 

By the article establishing the executive department, it is 
made the duty of the President "to recommend to your consid- 
eration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedi- 
ent." The circumstances, under which I now meet you, will 
acquit me from entering into that subject farther than to refer 
you to the great constitutional charter under which we are 
assembled ; and which, in defining your powers, designates the 
objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more 
consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with 
the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recom- 



mendation of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the 
talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism, which adorn the char- 
acters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honorable 
qualifications I behold the surest pledges, that as, on one side, no 
local prejudices or attachments, no separate views or party ani- 
mosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye, which 
ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and 
interests; so, on another, that the foundations of our national 
policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of pri- 
vate morality, and the preeminence of a free government be ex- 
emplified by all the attributes, which can win the affections of 
its citizens, and command the respect of the world. 

I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction, which an 
ardent love for my country can inspire ; since there is no truth 
more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the econ- 
omy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue 
and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genu- 
ine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid 
rewards of public prosperity and felicity ; since we ought to be 
no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never 
be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of 
order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained ; and since 
the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of 
the republican model of government, are justly considered as 
deeply, perhaps cisjtnally staked on the experiment intrusted to 
the hands of the American people. 

Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will 
remain with your judgment to decide, how far an exercise of the 
occasional power delegated by the fifth article of the Constitu- 
tion is rendered expedient at the present juncture by the nature 
of objections which have been urged against the system, or by 
the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them. In- 
stead of undertaking particular recommendations on this sub- 
ject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from 
official opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire con- 
fidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good; for 
I assure myself, that, whilst jou carefully avoid every alteration, 
which might endanger the benefits of a united and effective gov- 
ernment, or which ought to await the future lessons of experi- 
ence ; a reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen, and 
a regard for the public harmony, will sufhciently influence your 
deliberations on the question, how far the former can be more 
impregnably fortified, or the latter be safely and advantageously 
promoted. 



To the preceding observations I have one to add, which will 
3e most properly addressed to the House of Representatives, 
[t concerns myself, and will therefore be as brief as possible. 
^Vhen I was first honored with a call into the service of my 
:ountry, then on the eve of an arduous struggle for its liberties, 
;he light in which I contemplated my duty required, that I 
should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From this res- 
olution I have in no instance departed. And being still under 
the impressions which produced it, I must decline as inappli- 
cable to myself any share in the personal emoluments, which 
may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the 
sxecutive department ; and must accordingly pray, that the 
pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed ,may, 
during my continuance in it, be limited to such actual expendi- 
tures as the public good may be thought to require. 

Having thus imparted to you my sentiments, as they have 
been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall 
take my present leave ; but not without resorting once more to 
the benign Parent of the human race, in humble supplication, 
that, since he has been pleased to favor the American people 
with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquillity, and 
dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form 
of government for the security of their union and the advance- 
ment of their happiness ; so his divine blessing may be equally 
cotispiaious in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, 
and the wise measures, on which the success of this government 
must depend. 



REPLY TO THE ANSWER OF THE SENATE. 



Gentlemen, 

I thank you for your address, in which the most affectionate sentiments 
are expressed in the most obliging terms. The coincidence of circumstances, 
which led to this auspicious crisis, the confidence reposed in me by my fel- 
low-citizens, and the assistance I may expect from counsels, which will be 
dictated by an enlarged and liberal policy, seem to presage a more prosper- 
ous issue to my administration, than a diffidence of my abilities had taught 
me to anticipate. I now feel myself inexpressibly happy in a belief, that 
Heaven, which has done so much for our infant nation, will not withdraw its 
providential influence before our political felicity shall have been completed ; 
and in a conviction, that the Senate will at all times cooperate in every meas- 
ure, which may tend to promote the welfare of this confederated republic. 

Thus supported by a firm trust in the great Arbiter of the universe, aided 
by the collected wisdom of the Union, and imploring the divine benediction 
on our joint exertions in the service of our country, I readily engage with you 
in the arduous but pleasing task of attempting to make a nation happy. 



REPLY TO THE ANSWER OF THE HOUSE OF 
REPRESENTATIVES. 



Gentlemen, 

Your very affectionate address j^roduces emotions, which I know not 
how to express. I feel, that my past endeavours in the service of my coun- 
try are far overpaid by its goodness ; and I fear much, that my future ones 
may not fulfil your kind anticipation. All that I can promise is, that they 
will be invariably directed by an honest and an ardent zeal. Of this resource 
my heart assures me. For all beyond, I rely on the wisdom and patriotism 
of those with whom I am to cooperate, and a continuance of the blessings oi 
Heaven on our beloved country. 



SPEECH TO BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS. 
December ^d, lygj. 



Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives, 

Since the commencement of the term, for which I have 
been again called into office, no fit occasion has arisen for ex- 
.pressing to my fellow-citizens at large, the deep and respectful 
sense, which I feel, of the renewed testimony of public approba- 
tion. While, on the one hand, it awakened my gratitude for all 
those instances of affectionate partiality, with which I have been 
honored by my country ; on the other, it could not prevent an 
earnest wish for that retirement, from which no private consider- 
.ation should ever have torn me. But influenced by the belief, 
that my conduct would be estimated according to its real motives, 
and that the people, and the authorities derived from them, 
would support exertions having nothing personal for their ob- 
ject, I have obeyed the suffrage, which commanded me to 
resume the executive power ; and I humbly implore that Being, 
on whose will the fate of nations depends, to crown with success 
our mutual endeavours for the general happiness. 

As soon as the war in Europe had embraced those powers, 
with whom the United States have the most extensive relations, 
there was reason to apprehend, that our intercourse with them 
might be interrupted, and our disposition for peace drawn into 
question, by the suspicions too often entertained by belligerent 
nations. It seemed, therefore, to be my duty to admonish our 
citizens of the consequences of a contraband trade, and of hostile 
acts to any of the parties ; and to obtain, by a declaration of the 
existing legal state of things, an easier admission of our right 



to the immunities belonging to our situation. Under these im- 
pressions, the Proclamation, which will be laid before you, was 
issued. 

In this posture of affairs, both new and delicate, I resolved 
to adopt general rules, which should conform to the treaties and 
assert the privileges of the United States. These were reduced 
into a system, which will be communicated to you. Although I 
have not thought myself at liberty to forbid the sale of the 
prizes, permitted by our treaty of commerce with France to be 
brought into our ports, I have not refused to cause them to be 
restored, when they were taken within the protection of our 
territory, or by vessels commissioned or equipped in a warlike 
form within the limits of the United States. 

It rests with the wisdom of Congress to correct, improve, 
or enforce this plan of procedure ; and it will probably be found 
expedient to extend the legal code, and the jurisdiction of the 
courts of the United States, to many cases, which, though de- 
pendent on principles already recognised, demand some further 
provisions. - — ^ 

Where individuals shall within the United States array' 
themselves in hostility against any of the powers at war ; or 
enter upon military expeditions or enterprises within the juris- 
diction of the United States ; or usurp and exercise judicial 
authority within the United States ; or where the penalties on 
violations of the law of nations may have been indistinctly 
marked, or are inadequate ; these offences cannot receive too 
early and close an attention, and require prompt and decisive 
remedies. 

Whatsoever those remedies may be, they will be well ad- 
ministered by the judiciary, who possess a long-established 
course of investigation, effectual process, and ofhcers in the 
habit of executing it. In like manner, as several of the courts 
have doubted^ under particular circumstances, their power to 
liberate the vessels of a nation at peace, and even of a citizen 
of the United States, although seized under a false color of 
being hostile property ; and have denied their power to liberate 
certain captures within the protection of our territory ; it would 
seem proper to regulate their jurisdiction in these points. But 
if the executive is to be the resort in either of the two last-men- 
tioned cases, it is hoped, that he will be authorized by law to 
have facts ascertained by the courts, when, for his own informa- 
tion, he shall request it. 

r cannot recommend to your notice measures for the fulfil- 
ment of our duties to the rest of the world, without again press- 



7- 

ing upon you the necessity of placing ourselves in a condition 
of complete defence, and of exacting from them the fulfilment of 
their duties towards us. The United States ought not to indulge 
a persuasion, that, contrary to the order of human events, they 
will for ever keep at a distance those painful appeals to arms, 
with which the history of every other nation abounds. FThere is 
a rank due to the United States among nations, which will be 
withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. 
If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it ; if we 
desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of 
our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times 
ready for war. 

The documents, which will be presented to you, will show 
the amount and kinds of arms and military stores now in our 
magazines and arsenals ; and yet an addition even to these 
supplies cannot with prudence be neglected, as it would leave 
nothing to the uncertainty of procuring a warlike apparatus in 
the moment of public danger. Nor can such arrangements, 
with such objects, be exposed to the censure or jealousy of the 
warmest friends of republican government. They are incapable 
of abuse in the hands of the militia, who ought to possess a 
pride in being the depository of the force of the Republic, and 
may be trained to a degree of energy, equal to every military 
exigency of the United States. But it is an inquiry, which can- 
not be too solemnly pursued, whether the act " more effectually 
to provide for the national defence by establishing a uniform 
militia throughout the United States," has organized them so as 
to produce their full effect ; whether your own experience in the 
several States has not detected some imperfections in the 
scheme; and whether a -material feature, in an improvement of 
it, ought not to be to afford an opportunity for the study of 
those branches of the military art, which can scarcely ever be 
attained by practice alone. 

The connexion of the United States with Europe has be- 
come extremely interesting. The occurrences, which relate to 
it, and have passed under the knowledge of the executive, will 
be exhibited to Congress in a subsequent communication. 

When we contemplate the war on our frontiers, it may be 
truly af^rmed, that every reasonable effort has been made to 
adjust the causes of dissension with the Indians north of the 
Ohio. The instructions given to the commissioners evince a 
moderation and equity proceeding from a sincere love of peace, 
and a liberality having no restriction but the essential interests 
and dignity of the United States. The attempt, however, of 



8 

an amicable negotiation having been frustrated, the troops have 
marched to act offensively. Although the proposed treaty did 
not arrest the progress of military preparation, it is doubtful 
how far the advance of the season, before good faith justified 
active movements, may retard them, during the remainder of 
the year. From the papers and intelligence, which relate to 
this important subject, you will determine, whether the deficiency 
in the number of troops, granted by law, shall be compensated 
by succours of militia; or additional encouragements shall be 
proposed to recruits. An anxiety has been also demonstrated 
by the executive for peace with the Creeks and the Cherokees. 
The former have been relieved with corn and with clothing, and 
offensive measures against them prohibited, during the recess 
of Congress. To satisfy the complaints of the latter, prosecu- 
tions have been instituted for the violences committed upon 
them. But the papers, which will be delivered to you, disclose 
the critical footing on which we stcmd in regard to both those 
tribes ; and it is with Congress to pronounce what shall be 
done. 

After they shall have provided for the present emergency, 
it will merit their most serious labors, to render tranquillity with 
the savages permanent by creating ties of interest. Next to a 
rigorous execution of justice on the violators of peace, the es- 
tablishment of commerce with the Indian nations on behalf of 
the United States is most likely to conciliate their attachment. 
But it ought to be conducted without fraud, without extortion, 
with constant and plentiful supplies, with a ready market for 
the commodities of the Indians, and a stated price for what 
they give in payment, and receive in exchange. Individuals 
will not pursue such a traffic, unless they be allured by the 
hope of profit ; but it will be enough for the United States to be 
reimbursed onlv. Should this recommendation accord with the 
opinion of Congress, they will recollect, that it cannot be ac- 
complished by any means yet in the hands of the Executive. 

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, 

The commissioners, charged with ihe settlement of accounts 
between the United and individual States, concluded their im- 
portant functions within the time limited by law ; and the 
balances, struck in their report, which will be laid before Con- 
gress, have been placed on the books of the treasury. 

On the first day of June last, an instalment of one million 
of florins became payable on the loans of the United States in 



Holland. This was adjusted by a prolongation of the period of 
reimbursement, in the nature of a new loan, at interest at five 
per cent for the term of ten years ; and the expenses of this 
operation were a commission of three per cent. 

The first instalment of the loan of two millions of dollars 
from the bank of the United States has been paid, as was di- 
rected by law. For the second, it is necessary that provision 
should be made. 

No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular 
redemption and discharge of the public debt ; on none can delay 
be more injurious, or an economy of time more valuable. 

The productiveness of the public revenues hitherto has 
continued to equal the anticipations which were formed of it; 
but it is not expected to prove commensurate with all the ob- 
jects, which have been suggested. Some auxiliary provisions 
will, therefore, it is presumed, be requisite ; and it is hoped that 
these may be made, consistently with a due regard to the con- 
venience of our citizens, who cannot but be sensible of the true 
wisdom of encountering a small present addition to their con- 
tributions, to obviate a future accumulation of burdens. 

But here I cannot forbear to recommend a repeal of the 
tax on tlie transportation of public prints. There is no resource 
so firm for the government of the United States, as the affec- 
tions of the people, guided by an enlightened policy; and to 
this primary good, nothing can conduce more than a faithful 
representation of public proceedings, diffused without restraint 
throughout the United States. 

An estimate of the appropriations necessary for the current 
service of the ensuing year, and a statement of a purchase of 
arms and military stores made during the recess, will be pre- 
sented to Congress. 

Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives, 

The several subjects, to which I have now referred, open a 
wide range to your deliberations, and involve some of the 
choicest interests of our common country. Permit me to bring 
to your remembrance the magnitude of your task. Without an 
unprejudiced coolness, the welfare of the government may be 
hazarded; without harmony, as far as consists with freedom of 
sentiment, its dignity may be lost. But as the legislative pro- 
ceedings of the United States will never, I trust, be reproached 
for the want of temper or candor ; so shall not the public happi- 
ness languish from the want of my strenuous and warmest 
cooperations. 



THE INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON. 



" The inauguration took place on the 30th of April. . At nine 
o'clock in the morning, there were religious services in all the 
churches, and prayers put up for the blessing of heaven on the 
new government. At twelve o'clock the city troops paraded 
before Washington's door, and soon after the committees of 
Congress and heads of departments came in their carriages. 
At half past twelve the procession moved forward preceded by 
the troops; next came the committees and heads of departments 
in their carriages; then Washington in a coach of state, his 
aide-de-camp, Colonel Humphreys, and his secretary, Mr. Lear, 
in his own carriage. The foreign ministers and a long train of 
citizens brought up the rear. 

About two hundred yards before reaching the hall, Wash- 
ington and his suite alighted from their carriages, and passed 
through the troops, who were drawn up on each side, into 
the hall and senate-chamber, where the Vice President, the 
Senate and House of Representatives were assembled. The 
Vice President, John Adams, recently inaugurated, advanced 
and conducted Washington to a chair of state at the upper end 
of the room. A solemn silence prevailed ; when the Vice 
President rose, and informed him that all things were prepared 
for him to take the oath of office required by the constitution. 

The oath was to be administered by the Chancellor of the 
State of New York in a balcony in front of the senate chamber, 
and in full view of an immense multitude occupying the street, 
the windows, and even roofs of the adjacent houses. The bal- 
cony formed a kind of open recess, with lofty columns support- 
ing the roof. In the center was a table with a covering of 
crimson velvet, upon which lay a superbly bound Bible on a 
crimson velvet cushion. This was all the paraphernalia for the 
august scene. 

All eyes were fixed upon the balcony, when, at the ap- 
pointed hour, Washington made his appearance, accompanied 
by various public functionaries, and members of the Senate 
and House of Representatives. He was clad in a full suit of 
dark-brown cloth, of American manufacture, with a steel-hilted 
dress sword, white silk stockings, and silver shoe buckles. His 
hair was dressed and powdered in the fashion of the day, and 
worn in a bag and solitaire. 

His entrance on the balcony was hailed by universal 



II . 

shouts. He was evidently moved by this demonstration of 
public affection. Advancing to the front of the balcony he laid 
his hand upon his heart, bowed several times, and then retreated 
to an arm-chair near the table. The populace appeared to 
understand that the scene had overcome him ; and were hushed 
at once into profound silence. 

After a few moments Washington rose and again came for- 
ward. John Adams, the Vice President, stood on his right; 
on his left the Chancellor of the State, Robert R. Livingston; 
somewhat in the rear were Roger Sherman, Alexander Hamil- 
ton, Generals Knox, St. Clair, the Baron Steuben and others. 

The chancellor advanced to administer the oath prescribed 
by the constitution, and Mr. Otis, the secretary of the Senate, 
held up the Bible on its crimson cushion. The oath was read 
slowly and distinctly ; Washington at the same time laying his 
hand on the open Bible. When it was concluded, he replied 
solemnly, 'I swear — so help me God!' Mr. Otis would have 
raised the Bible to his lips, but he bowed down reverently and 
kissed it. 

The chancellor now stepped forward, waved his hand and 
exclaimed, 'Long live George Washington, President of the 
United- States ! ' At this moment a flag was displayed on the 
cupola of the hall ; on which signal there was a general dis- 
charge of artillery on the battery. All the bells in the city 
rang out a joyful peal, and the multitude rent the air with accla- 
mations. 

Washington again bowed to the people and returned into 
the senate chamber, where he delivered, to both Houses of 
Congress, his inaugural address, characterized by his usual 
modesty, moderation and good sense, but uttered with a voice 
deep, slightly tremulous, and so low as to demand close atten- 
tion in the listeners. After this he proceeded with the whole 
assemblage on foot to St. Paul's church, where prayers suited 
to the occasion were read by Dr. Prevost, Bishop of the Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church in New York, who had been appointed 
by the Senate one of the chaplains of Congress. So closed the 
ceremonies of the inauguration." — Irving' s Life of Washington, 



•" Every one without exception appeared penetrated with 
veneration for the illustrious chief of the republic. The hum- 
blest was proud of the virtues of the man who was to govern 
him. Tears of joy were seen to flow in the hall of the senate, 



12 

at church, and even in the streets, and no sovereign ever reignec 
more completely in the hearts of his subjects than Washingtor 
in the hearts of his fellow-citizens. Nature, which had giver 
him the talent to govern, distinguished him from all others b] 
his appearance. He had at once the soul, the look and th( 
figure of a hero. He never appeared embarrassed at homag( 
rendered him, and in his manners he had the advantage of join 
ing dignity to great simplicity." — From the report of Moustier 
the French minister^ to his goverm?ie7it, on the inauguration of Wash 
ington. 



Washington took the oath of office for his second term, on the 4th oj 
March, 1793. ^lie address which is here printed as his second inaugural i< 
the address delivered upon the assembling of Congress in December follow- 
ing. In the time of Washington's administration, it was customary for th( 
President, at the opening of each session of Congress, to meet the twc 
houses in person and deliver a written speech. Each house returned an an- 
swer to this speech some days afterwards, by a committee, who waited or 
him for the purpose, and he at the same time made a brief reply. All oJ 
Washington's speeches to Congress, and all his replies to the answers of th€ 
two houses, are given in vol. xii of Sparks' s edition of the Writings of Wash- 
ington. 



OLD SOUTH LEAFLETS, GENERAL SERIES. 



No. I. Constitution of the United States. 2. Articles of Confedera 
tion. 3. Declaration of Independence. 4. Washington's Farewell Ad 
dress. 5. Magna Charta. 6. Vane's " Healing Question." 7. Charte; 
of Massachusetts Bay, 1629. 8. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1638 
9. Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754. 10. Washington's Inaugurals. 11. Lin 
coin's Inaugurals and Emancipation Proclamation. 12. The Federalist 
Nos. I and 2 — etc. Price, five cents per copy; one hundred copies 

PUBLISHED BY 

THE DIRECTORS OF THE OLD SOUTH WORK, 
Old South Meeting House, Boston. 




#lb .^outft Xcaflet^ 



General Series, No. i6. 



Washington's 
Letter to Benja- 
min Harrison, 

GOV. OF VA., 



On the Opening of Communication with the West. 



Mount Vernon, lo October, J'184. 

Dear Sir : 

Upon my return from the western country a few days ago, 
I had the pleasure to receive your favor of the 17th ultimo. It 
has always been my intention to pay my respects to you, before 
the chance of another early and hard winter should make a 
warm fireside too comfortable to be relinquished. And I shall 
feel an additional pleasure in offering this tribute of friendship 
and respect to you, by having the company of the Marquis de 
Lafayette, when he shall have revisited this place from his 
eastern tour, now every day to be expected. 

I shall take the liberty now, my dear Sir, to suggest a mat- 
ter, which would (if I am not too short-sighted a politician) mark 
your administration as an important era in the annals of this 
country, if it should be recommended by you and adopted by 
the Assembly. 

It has long been my decided opinion, that the shortest, 
easiest, and least expensive communication with the invaluable 
and extensive country back of us would be by one or both of 
the rivers of this State, which have their sources in the Apala- 
chian mountains. Nor am I singular in this opinion. Evans, 
in his Map and Analysis of the Middle Colonies, which, con- 
sidering the early period at which they were given to the public, 
are done with amazing exactness, and Hutchins since, in his 
Topographical Description of the western country, a good part 
of which is from actual surveys, are decidedly of the same sen- 
timents ; as indeed are all others, who have had opportunities, 
and have been at the pains, to investigate and consider the sub- 
ject. 



But that this may not now stand as mere matter of opinion 
and assertion, unsupported by facts (such at least as the best 
maps now extant, compared with the oral testimony, which my 
opportunities in the course of the war have enabled me to 
obtainX I shall give you the different routes and distances from 
Detroit, by which all the trade of the northwestern parts of the 
united territory must pass ; unless the Spaniards, contrary to 
their present policy, should engage part of it, or the British 
should attempt to force nature, by carr}-ing the trade of the 
Upper Lakes by the River Utawas into Canada, which I scarcely 
think they will or could effect. Taking Detroit then (which is 
putting ourselves in as unfavorable a point of view as we can 
be well placed in, because it is upon the line of the British 
territor}-) as a point by which, as 1 have already observed, all 
that part of the trade must come, it appears from the statement 
enclosed, that the tide waters of this State are nearer to it by 
one hundred and sixty-eight miles, than those of the River St. 
Lawrence; or than those of the Hudson at Albany, by one hun- 
dred and seventy-six miles. 

Mar}-land stands upon similar ground with Virginia. Penn- 
sylvania, although the Susquehanna is an unfriendly water, 
much impeded, it is said, with rocks and rapids, and nowhere 
communicating with those, which lead to her capital, has it in 
contemplation to open a communication betvreen Toby's Creek, 
which empties into the Allegany River ninety-tive miles above 
Fort Pitt, and the west branch of the Susquehanna, and to cut 
a canal between the waters of the latter and the Schuylkill ; the 
expense of which is easier to be conceived, than estimated or 
described by me. A people, however, who are possessed of the 
spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advan- 
tages, may achieve almost any thing. In the mean time, under 
the uncertainty of these undertakings, they are smoothing the 
roads and paving the ways for the trade of that western world. 
That Xew York will do the same as soon as the British garri- 
sons are removed, which are at present insurmountable obstacles 
m their way, no person, who knows the temper, genius, and 
policy of those people as well as I do, can harbour the smallest 
doubt. 

Thus much with respect to rival States. Let me now take 
a short view of our own ; and, being aware of the objections 
which are in the way, I will, in order to contrast them, enumer- 
ate them with the advantages. 

The first and principal one is, the unfortunate jealousy^ 
which ever has, and it is to be feared ever will prevail, lest one 
part of the State should obtain an advantage over the other 



parts, as if the benefits of the trade were not diffusive and bene- 
ficial to all. Then follows a train of difficulties, namely, that 
our people are already heavily taxed ; that we have no money ; 
that the advantages of this trade are remote ; that the most 
direct route for it is through other States, over which we have 
no control ; that the routes over which we have control are as 
distant as either of those which lead to Philadelphia, Albany, or 
Montreal ; that a sufficient spirit of commerce does not pervade 
the citizens of this commonwealth ; and that we are in fact 
doing for others, what they ought to do for themselves. 

Without going into the investigation of a question, which 
has employed the pens of able politicians, namely, whether 
trade with foreigners is an advantage or disadvantage to a 
country, this State, as a part of the confederated States, all of 
which have the spirit of it very strongly working within them, 
must adopt it, or submit to the evils arising therefrom without 
receiving its benefits. Common policy, therefore, points clearly 
and strongly to the propriety of our enjoying all the advantages, 
which nature and our local situation afford us; and evinces 
clearly, that, unless this spirit could be totally eradicated in 
other States as well as in this, and every man be made to 
become either a cultivator of the land or a manufacturer of 
such articles as are prompted by necessity, such stimulus should 
be employed as will force this spirit, by showing to our country- 
men the superior advantages we possess beyond others, and the 
importance of being upon an equal footing with our neighbours. 

If this is fair reasoning, it ought to follow as a conse- 
quence, that we should do our part towards opening the com- 
munication for the fur and peltry trade of the Lakes, and for 
the produce of the country which lies within, and which will, so 
soon as matters are settled with the Indians, and the terms on 
which Congress mean to dispose of the land, found to be favor- 
able, are announced, be settled faster than any other ever was, 
or any one would imagine. This, then, when considered in an 
interested point of view, is alone sufficient to excite our endeav- 
ours. But in my opinion there is a political consideration for 
so doing, which is of still greater importance. 

I need not remark to you. Sir, that the flanks and rear of 
the United States are possessed by other powers, and formi- 
dable ones too ; nor how necessary it is to apply the cement of 
interest to bind all parts of the Union together by indissoluble 
bonds, especially that part of it, which lies immediately west of 
us, with the middle States. For what ties, let me ask, should 
we have upon those people ? How entirely unconnected with 
them shall we be, and what troubles may we not apprehend, if 



the Spaniards on their right, and Great Britain on their left, 
instead of throwing stumbling-blocks in their way, as they now 
do, should hold out lures for their trade and alliance ? What, 
when thev get strength, which will be sooner than most people 
conceive \from the emigration of foreigners, who will have no 
particular predilection towards us, as well as from the removal 
of our own citizens\ will be the consequence of their having . 
formed close connexions with both or either of those powers, 
in a commercial way ? It needs not, in my opinion, the gift of 
prophecy to foretell. 

The western States (I speak now from my own observation) 
stand as it were upon a pivot. The touch of a feather would 
turn them any way. They have looked down the Mississippi, 
until the Spaniards, very impolitically I think for themselves, 
threw difficulties in their way; and they looked that way for no 
other reason, than because they could glide gently down 
the stream; without considering, perhaps, the difficulties of the 
voyage back again, and the time necessar}- to perform it in; 
and because they have no other means of coming to us but by 
long land transportations and unimproved roads. These causes 
have hitherto checked the industry of the present settlers ; for, 
except the demand for provisions, occasioned by the increase of 
population, and a little flour, which the necessities of the Span- 
iards compel them to buy, they have no incitements to labor. 
But smooth the road, and make easy the way for them, and 
then see what an influx of articles will be poured upon us ; how 
amazingly our exports will be increased by them, and how amply 
we shall be compensated for any trouble and expense we may 
encounter to effect it. 

A combination of circumstances makes the present con- 
juncture more favorable for Virginia, than for any other State 
in the Union, to fix these matters. The jealous and untoward 
disposition of the Spaniards on one hand, and the private views 
of some individuals, coinciding with the general policy of the 
court of Great Britain, on the other, to retain as long as pos- 
sible the posts of Detroit, Niagara, and Oswego, (which, though 
done under the letter of the treaty, is certainly an infraction of 
the spirit of it, and injurious to the Union,) may be improved 
to the greatest advantage by this State, if she would open the 
avenues to the trade of that' country, and embrace the present 
moment to establish it. It only wants a beginning. The west- 
ern inhabitants would do their part towards its execution. 
Weak as they are, they would meet us at least half way, rather 
than be driven into the arms of foreigners, or be made dependent 
upon them ; which would eventually either bring on a separa- 



5 

tion of them from us, or a war between the United States and 
one or the other of those powers, most probably with the Span- 
iards. 

The preliminary steps to the attainment of this great object 
would be attended with very little expense, and might, at the 
same time that it served to attract the attention of the western 
country, and convince the wavering inhabitants of our disposi- 
tion to connect ourselves with them, and facilitate their com- 
merce with us, be a means of removing those jealousies, which 
otherwise might take place among ourselves. 

These, in my opinion, are, to appoint commissioners, who, 
from their situation, integrity, and abilities, can be under no 
suspicion of prejudice, or predilection to one part more than to 
another. Let these commissioners make an actual survey of 
James River and the Potomac from tide-water to their respective 
sources ; note with great accuracy the kind of navigation and 
the obstructions, the difficulty and expense attending the 
removal of these obstructions, the distances from place to 
place through their whole extent, and the nearest and best 
portage between these waters and the streams capable of 
improvement, which run into the Ohio ; traverse these in like 
manner to their junction with the Ohio, and with equal accuracy. 
The navigation of the Ohio being well known, they will have 
less to do in the examination of it ; but, nevertheless, let the 
courses and distances be taken to the mouth of the Muskingum, 
and up that river (notwithstanding it is in the ceded lands) 
to the carrying-place to the Cayahoga ; dovv^n the Cayahoga to 
Lake Erie ; and thence to Detroit. Let them do the same with 
Big Beaver Creek, although part of it is in the State of Penn- 
sylvania ; and also with the Scioto. In a word, let the waters 
east and west of the Ohio, which invite our notice by their 
proximity, and by the ease with which land transportation may 
be had between them and the Lakes on one side, and the Rivers 
Potomac and James on the other, be explored, accurately delin- 
eated, and a correct and connected map of the whole be pre- 
sented to the public. These things being done, I shall be 
mistaken if prejudice does not yield to facts, jealousy to candor, 
and, finally, if reason and nature, thus aided, do not dictate 
what is right and proper to be done. 

In the mean while, if it should be thought that the lapse of 
time, which is necessary to effect this work, may be attended 
with injurious consequences, could not there be a sum of money 
granted towards opening the best, or, if it should be deemed 
more eligible, two of the nearest communications (one to the 
northward and another to the southward) with the settlements 



to the westward; and an act be passed, if there should not 
appear a manifest disposition in the Assembly to make it a pub- 
lic undertaking, to incorporate and encourage private advent- 
urers, if any should associate and solicit the same, for the 
purpose of extending the navigation of the Potomac or James 
River; and, in the former case, to request the concurrence of 
Maryland in the measure ? It will appear from my statement 
of the different routes (and, as far as my means of information 
have extended, I have done it with the utmost candor), that all 
the produce of the settlements about Fort Pitt can be brought 
to Alexandria by the Youghiogany in three hundred and four 
miles, whereof only thirty-one are land transportation ; and by 
the Monongahela and Cheat Rivers in three hundred and sixty 
miles, twenty of which only are land carriage. Whereas the 
common road from Fort Pitt to Philadelphia is three hundred 
and twenty miles, all land transportation ; or four hundred and 
seventy-six miles, if the Ohio, Toby's Creek, Susquehanna, and 
Schuylkill are made use of for this purpose. How much of this 
is by land, I know not ; but, from the nature of the country, it 
must be very considerable. How much the interest and feel- 
ings of people thus circumstanced would be engaged to promote 
it, requires no illustration. 

For my own part, I think it highly probable, that, upon the 
strictest scrutiny, if the Falls of the Great Kenhawa can be 
made navigable, or a short portage be had there, it will be found 
of equal importance and convenience to improve the navigation 
of both the James and Potomac. The latter, I am fully per- 
suaded, affords the nearest communication with the Lakes; but 
James River may be more convenient for all the settlers below 
the mouth of the Great Kenhawa, and for some distance per- 
haps above and west of it ; for I have no expectation, that any 
part of the trade above the Falls of the Ohio will go down that 
river, and the Mississippi, much less that the returns will ever 
come up them, unless our want of foresight and good manage- 
ment is the occasion of it. Or, upon trial, if it should be found 
that these rivers, from the before-mentioned Falls, will admit 
the descent of sea-vessels, in that case, and the navigation of 
the former becoming free, it is probable that both vessels and 
cargoes will be carried to foreign markets and sold ; but the 
returns for them will never in the natural course of things 
ascend the long and rapid current of that river, which with the 
Ohio to the Falls, in their meanderings, is little if any short of 
two thousand miles. Upon the whole, the object in my estima- 
tion is of vast commercial and political importance. In this 
light I think posterity will consider it, and regret, if our conduct 



should give them cause, that the present favorable moment to 
secure so great a blessing for them was neglected. 

One thing more remains, which I had like to have for- 
gotten, and that is, the supposed difficulty of obtaining a pas- 
sage through the State of Pennsylvania. How an application 
to its legislature would be relished, in the first instance, I will 
not undertake to decide ; but of one thing I am almost certain, 
such an application would place that body in a very delicate 
situation. There are in the State of Pennsylvania at least one 
hundred thousand souls west of the Laurel Hill, who are groan- 
ing under the inconveniences of a long land transportation. 
They are wishing, indeed they are looking, for the improve- 
ment and extension of inland navigation ; and, if this cannot be 
made easy for them to Philadelphia (at any rate it must be 
long), they will seek a mart elsewhere ; the consequence of 
which would be, that the State, though contrary to the interests 
of its sea-ports, must submit to the loss of so much of its trade, 
or hazard not only the loss of the trade but the loss of the 
settlement also; for an opposition on the part of government 
to the extension of water transportation, so consonant with the 
essential interests of a large body of people, or any extraordi- 
nary impositions upon the exports or imports to or from another 
State, would ultimately bring on a separation between its east- 
ern and western settlements; towards which there is not want- 
ing a disposition at this moment in that part of it beyond the 
mountains. I consider Rumsey's discovery for working boats 
against the stream, by mechanical powers principally, as not 
only a very fortunate invention for these States in general, but 
as one of those circumstances, which have combined to render 
the present time favorable above all others for fixing, if we are 
disposed to avail ourselves of them, a large portion of the trade 
of the western country in the bosom of this State irrevocably. 

Long as this letter is, I intended to have written a fuller 
and more digested one, upon this important subject ; but have 
met with so many interruptions since my return home, as almost 
to have precluded my writing at all. What I now give is crude ; 
but if you are in sentiment with me, I have said enough; if 
there is not an accordance of opinion, I have said too much; 
and all I pray in the latter case is, that you will do me the 
justice to believe my motives are pure, however erroneous my 
judgment may be in this matter, and that I am, with the most 
perfect esteem and friendship. 

Dear Sir, yours, &:c. 

George Washington, 



WASHINGTON'S LETTER TO THE CHEVALIER 
DE CHASTELLUX. 

Princeton, 12 October, lySj. 
My Dear Chevalier : 

I have not had the honor of a line from you since the 4th of 
March last ; but I will ascribe my disappointment to any cause, rather 
than to a decay of your friendship. 

Having the appearance, and indeed the enjoyment of peace, with- 
out a final declaration of it, I, who am only waiting for the ceremo- 
nials, or till the British forces shall have taken leave of New York, am 
placed in an awkward and disagreeable situation, it being my anxious 
desire to quit the walks of public life, and to seek those enjoyments 
and that relaxation, which a mind, that has been constantly upon the 
stretch for more than eight years, stands so much in need of. 

I have fixed this epoch at the arrival of the definitive treaty, or the 
evacuation of my country by our newly acquired friends. In the mean 
while, at the request of Congress I spend my time with them at this 
place, where they came in consequence of the riots at Philadelphia, 
of which you have doubtless (for it is not a very recent transaction) 
been fully apprized. They have lately determined to make a choice of 
some convenient spot near the Falls of the Delaware for the perma- 
nent residence of the sovereign power of these United States ; but 
where they will hold their sessions till they can be properly established 
at that place, is yet undecided. 

I have lately made a tour through the Lakes George and Cham- 
plain, as far as Crown Point. Thence returning to Schenectady, I 
proceeded up the Mohawk River to Fort Schuyler (formerly Fort 
Stanwix), and crossed over to Wood Creek, which empties into the 
Oneida Lake, and affords the water communication with Ontario. I 
then traversed the country to the head of the eastern branch of the 
Susquehanna, and viewed the Lake Otsego, and the portage between 
that Lake and the Mohawk River at Canajoharie. Prompted by these 
actual observations, I could not help taking a more extensive view of 
the vast inland navigation of these United States, from maps and the 
information of others; and could not but be struck with the immense 
extent and importance of it, and with the goodness of that Providence, 
which has dealt its favors to us with so profuse a hand. Would to 
God we may have wisdom enough to improve them. I shall not rest 
contented, till I have explored the western country, and traversed 
those lines, or great part of them, which have given bounds to a new 
empire. But when it may, if it ever shall, happen, I dare not say, as 
my first attention must be given to the deranged situation of my pri- 
vate concerns, which are not a little injured by almost nine years' 
absence and total disregard of them. With every wish for your health 
and happiness, and with the most sincere and affectionate regard, I 
am, my dear Chevalier, &c. 



WASHINGTON'S LETTER TO THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

Mount VernoUy zg March, 1784. 

Dear Sir: 

It was not in my power to answer your favor of the 15th by the 
last post, for the reason then assigned. I wish I may be able to do it 
to your satisfaction now, as I am again obliged to pay my attention to 
the other company, the Governor being gone. 

My opinion coincides perfectly with yours respecting the practi- 
cability of an easy and short communication between the waters of 
the Ohio and Potomac, of the advantages of that communication and 
the preference it has over all others, and of the policy there would be 
in this State and Maryland to adopt and render it facile. But I con- 
fess to you freely, I have no expectation, that the public will adopt 
the measure ; for, besides the jealousies which prevail, and the diffi- 
culty of proportioning such funds as may be allotted for the purposes 
you have mentioned, there are two others, which, in my opinion, will 
be yet harder to surmount. These are (if I have not imbibed too 
unfavorable an opinion of my countrymen) the impracticability of 
bringing the great and truly wise policy of the measure to their view, 
and the difficulty of extracting money from them for such a purpose, 
if it could be done; for it appears to me, maugre all the sufferings of 
the public creditors, breach of public faith, and loss of public reputa- 
tion, that payment of the taxes, which are already laid, will be post- 
poned as long as possible. How then are we to expect new ones for 
purposes more remote .'^ 

I am not so disinterested in this matter as you are ; but I am 
made very happy to find that a man of discernment and liberality, 
who has no particular interest in the plan, thinks as I do, who have 
lands in that country, the value of which would be enhanced by the 
adoption of such a measure. 

More than ten years ago I was struck with the importance of it; 
and, despairing of any aid from the public, I became a principal 
mover of a bill to empower a number of subscribers to undertake at 
their own expense, on conditions which were expressed, the extension 
of the navigation from tide water to Will's Creek, about one hundred 
and fifty miles ; and I devoutly wish that this may not be the only 
expedient by which it can be effected now. To get this business in 
motion, I was obliged even upon that ground to comprehend James 
River, in order to remove the jealousies, which arose from the attempt 
to extend the navigation of the Potomac. The plan, however, was in 
a tolerably good train, when I set out for Cambridge in 1775, and 
would have been in an excellent way, had it not been for the difficul- 
ties, which were met with in the Maryland Assembly from the oppo- 
sition which was given (according to report) by the Baltimore mer- 
chants, who were alarmed, and perhaps not without cause, at the 
consequence of water transportation to Georgetown of the produce, 
which usually came to their market by land. 



lO 

The local interest of that place, joined to the short-sighted 
politics or contracted views of another part of that Assembly, gave 
Mr. Thomas Johnson, who was a warm promoter of the scheme on 
the north side of the Potomac, a great deal of trouble. In this situa- 
tion I left matters when I took command of the army. The war 
afterwards called men's attention to different objects, and all the 
money they could or would raise was applied to other purposes. But 
with you I am satisfied that not a moment ought to be lost in recom- 
mencing this business, as I know the Yorkers will delay no time to 
remove every obstacle in the way of. the other communication, so 
soon as the posts of Oswego and Niagara are surrendered ; and I 
shall be mistaken if they do not build vessels for the navigation of 
the lakes, which will supersede the necessity of coasting on either side. 

It appears to me, that the interest and policy of Maryland are 
proportionably concerned with those of Virginia, to remove obstruc- 
tions, and to invite the trade of the western country into the channel 
you have mentioned. You will have frequent opportunities of learn- 
ing the sentiments of the principal characters of that State, respecting 
this matter ; and I wish, if it should fall in your way, that you would 
discourse with Mr. Thomas Johnson, formerly governor of Maryland, 
on this subject. How far, upon mature consideration, I may depart 
from the resolution I had formed, of living perfectly at my ease, 
exempt from every kind of responsibility, is more than I can at pres- 
ent absolutely determine. The sums granted, the manner of granting 
them, the powers and objects, would merit consideration. The 
trouble, if my situation at the time would permit me to engage in a 
work of this sort, would be set at nought ; and the immense advan- 
tages, which this country would derive from the measure, would* be 
no small stimulus to the undertaking, if that undertaking could be 
made to comport with those ideas, and that line of conduct, with 
which I meant to glide gently down the current of life, and it did not 
interfere with any other plan I might have in contemplation. 

I am not less in sentiment with you, respecting the impolicy of 
this State's grasping at more territory than they are competent to the 
government of; and, for the reasons you assign, I very much approve 
of a meridian from the mouth of the Great Kenhawa as a convenient 
and very proper line of separation, but I am mistaken if our chief 
magistrate will coincide with us in this opinion. 

' I will not enter upon the subject of commerce. It has its advan- 
tages and disadvantages ; but which of them preponderates, is not 
now the question, f^rom trade our citizens will not be restrained, 
and therefore it behoves us to place it in the most convenient chan- 
nels under proper regulations, freed as much as possible from those 
vices, which luxury, the consequence of wealth and power, naturally 
introduces. 

The incertitude, which prevails in Congress, and the non-attend- 
ance of its members, are discouraging to those, who are willing and 
ready to discharge the trust, which is reposed in them ; whilst it is 
disgraceful in a high degree to our country. But it is my belief, that 
the case will never be otherwise, so long as that body persist in their 
present mode of doing business, and will hold constant instead of 



I r 

annual sessions ; against the f®rmer of which my mind furnishes me 
with a variety of arguments ; but not one, in times of peace, in favor 
of them. 

Annual sessions would always produce a full representation, and 
alertness in business. The delegates, after a separation of eight or 
ten months, would meet each other with glad countenances. They 
would be complaisant; they would yield to each other all, that duty 
to their constituents would allow ; and they would have better oppor- 
tunities of becoming acquainted with their sentiments, and removing 
improper prejudices, when they are imbibed, by mixing with them 
during the recess. Men, who are always together, get tired of each 
other's company ; they throw off that restraint, which is necessary to 
keep things in proper tune ; they say and do things, which are per- 
sonally disgusting ; this begets opposition; opposition begets faction; 
and so it goes on, till business is impeded, often at a stand. I am 
sure (having the business prepared by proper boards or a committee) 
an annual session of two months would despatch more business than 
is now done in twelve, and this by a full representation of the Union. 

Long as this letter is, I intended to be more full on some of the 
points, and to touch on others ; but it is not in my power, as I am 
obliged to snatch from company the moments, which give you this 
hasty production of my thoughts on the subject of your letter. With 
very great esteem and regard, I am, &c. 



WASHINGTON'S LETTER TO BENJAMIN HARRISON. 

Mouni Vernon, 22 yanuary, ijSj. 
My Dear Sir: 

It is not easy for me to decide by which my mind was most 
affected upon the receipt of your letter of the 6th instant, surprise or 
gratitude. Both were greater than I have words to express. The 
attention and good wishes, which the Assembly have evidenced by 
their act for vesting in me one hundred and fifty shares in the navi- 
gation of the rivers Potomac and James, are more than mere compli- 
ment. There is an unequivocal and substantial meaning annexed. 
But believe me, Sir, notwithstanding this, no circumstance has hap- 
pened to me since I left the walks of public life, which has so much 
embarrassed me. 

On the one hand, I consider this act, as I have already observed, 
as a noble and unequivocal proof of the good opinion, the affection, 
and disposition of my country to serve me; and I should be hurt, if, 
by declining the acceptance of it, my refusal should be construed into 
disrespect or the smallest slight upon the generous intention of the 
coTintry, or it should be thought that an ostentatious display of dis- 
interestedness or public virtue was the source of refusal. On the 
other hand it is really my wish to have my mind, and my actions, 
which are the result of reflection, as free and independent as the air; 
that I may be more at liberty (in things which my opportunities and 
experience have brought me to the knowledge of) to express my sen- 



12 

timents, and, if necessary, to suggest what may occur to me under the 
fullest conviction, that, although my judgment may be arraigned, 
there may be no suspicion that sinister motives had the smallest 
influence in the suggestion. Not content, then, with the bare con- 
sciousness of my having, in all this navigat on business, acted upon 
the clearest conviction of the political importance of the measure, I 
would wish that every individual, who may hear that it was a favorite 
plan of mine, may know also that I had no other motive for promot- 
ing it, than the advantage of which I conceived it would be productive 
to the Union, and to this State in particular, by cementing the eastern 
and western territory together, at the same time that it will give vigor 
and increase to our commerce, and be a convenience to our citizens. 

How would this matter be viewed, then, by the eye of the world, 
and what would be the opinion of it, when it comes to be related, that 
George Washington has received twenty thousand dollars and five 
thousand pounds sterling of the public money as an interest therein? 
Would not this in the estimation of it (if I am entitled to any merit 
for the part I have acted, and without it there is no foundation for the 
act,) deprive me of the principal thing, which is laudable in my con- 
duct? Would it not in some respects be considered in the same 
light as a pension ? And would not the apprehension of this make 
me more reluctantly offer my sentiments in future? In a word, under 
whatever pretence, and however customarily these gratuitous gifts are 
made in other countries, should I not thenceforward be considered as 
a dependent? One moment's thought of which would give me more 
pain, than I should receive pleasure from the product of all the tolls, 
were every farthing of them vested in me; although I consider it as 
one of the most certain and increasing estates in the country. 

I have written to you with an openness becoming our friendship. 
I could have said more on the subject ; but I have already said enough 
to let you into the state of my mind. I wish to know whether the 
ideas I entertain occurred to, and were expressed by, any member in 
or out of the House. Upon the whole you may be assured, my dear 
Sir, that my mind is not a little agitated. I want the best informa- 
tion and advice to settle it. I have no inclination, as I have already 
observed, to avail myself of the generosity of the country ; nor do I 
wish to appear ostentatiously disinterested (for more than probably 
my refusal would be ascribed to this motive), nor that the country 
should harbour an idea, that I am disposed to set little value on her 
favors, the manner of granting which is as flattering as the grant is 
important. My present difficulties, however, shall be no impediment 
to the progress of the undertaking. I will receive the full and frank 
opinions of my friends with thankfulness. I shall have time enough 
between the sitting of the next Assembly to consider the tendency of 
the act, and in this, as in all other matters, will endeavour to decide 
for the best. I am, my dear Sir, &c. 



13 



EXTRACT FROM WASHINGTON'S WILL. 

After stating the manner in which he became possessed of or!e hundred 
shares in the Company established for the purpose of extending the naviga- 
tion of James River, and of fifty shares in the Potomac Company, he adds: 

'* I proceed, after this recital, for the more correct understanding of the 
case, to declare, that, as it has always been a source of serious regret with 
me to see the youth of these United States sent to foreign countries for the 
purposes of education, often before their minds were formed, or they had 
imbibed any adequate ideas of the happiness of their own ; contracting,' too 
frequently, not only habits of dissipation and extravagance, but principles 
iinfriendly to reptiblican gcrjernment, and to the triie and genuine liberties of 
mankind, which thereafter are rarely overcome ; for these reasons it has 
been my ardent wish to see a plan devised, on a liberal scale, which would 
have a tendency to spread systematic ideas through all parts of this rising 
empire, thereby to do away local attachments and State prejudices, as far 
as the nature of things would, or indeed ought to admit, from our national 
councils. Looking anxiously forward to the accomplishment of so desirable 
an object as this is (in my estimation), my mind has not been able to con- 
template any plan more likely to effect the measure, than the establishment 
of a university in a central part of the United States, to which the youths of 
fortune and talents from all parts thereof might be sent for the completion 
of their education in all the branches of polite literature, in the arts and 
sciences, in acquiring knowledge in the principles of politics and good gov- 
ernment ; and, as a matter of infinite importance in my judgment, by associ- 
ating with each other, and forming friendships in juvenile years, be enabled 
to free themselves in a proper degree from those local prejudices and habit- 
ual jealousies, which have just been mentioned, and which, when carried to 
excess, are never-failing sources of disquiet to the public mind, and pregnant 
with mischievous consequences to this country. Under these impressions, 
so fully dilated, 

" I give and bequeath in perpetuity the fifty shares, which I hold in the 
Potomac Company (under the aforesaid acts of the legislature of Virginia), 
towards the endowment of a university to be established within the limits of 
the District of Columbia, under the auspices of the general government, if 
that government should incline to extend a fostering hand towards it ; and 
until such seminary is established, and the funds arising on these shares 
shall be required for its support, my further will and desire is, that the 
profit accruing therefrom shall, whenever the dividends are made, be laid 
out in purchasing stock in the bank of Columbia, or some other bank, at 
the discretion of my executors, or by the treasurer of the United States for 
the time being, under the direction of Congress, provided that honorable 
body should patronize the measure ; and the dividends proceeding from the 
purchase of such stock are to be invested in more stock, and so on until a 
sum adequate to the accomplishment of the object is obtained, of which I 
have not the smallest doubt before many years pass away, even if no aid or 
encouragement is given by legislative authority, or from any other source. 

" The hundred shares, which I hold in the James River Company, I 
have given, and now confirm, in perpetuity, to and for the use and benefit 
of Liberty Hall Academy, in the county of Rockbridge, in the commonwealth 
of Virginia." 

Washington's letter to Governor Harrison is here published as perhaps 
the best illustration of Washington's interest in the opening of the great 
West and as the document which may best serve as a basis for the study of 



that important side of Washington's thought and service. Washington's 
interest in the western country began as early as 1749, when his brothers, 
Lawrence and Augustine Washington, became members, and Lawrence the 
chief manager, of the Ohio Company, formed in Virginia that year for the 
colonization of the Ohio country — the first scheme for the settlement of the 
West by Englishmen. See account of the Ohio Company in Sparks's edi- 
tion of Washington's Writings, ii, 47S. Washington's letter to Governor 
Dinwiddie, Oct. 17, 1753, with his remark that "a pusillanimous behavior 
would ill suit the times," and his Joiirjial of a Tour to the Ohio hi lyjj^ 
published in Williamsburg and London in 1754, after his visit to the French 
posts on the Alleghany (see Ford's edition of Washington's Writings, i, 9), 
show his early realization of the importance of the struggle between France 
and England for the possession of the great West. No other Virginian 
took so important active part in that struggle. At the close of the French 
war he received 5,000 acres on the Ohio, his claim as an officer for services 
in the war; and he possessed himself of other claims to a large extent, so 
that at one time he controlled over 60,000 acres on the Ohio.- At the out- 
break of the Revolution he was probably the largest owner of western lands 
in America. His advertisement in the Miuyland Journal and Baltimore 
Advertiser of August 20, 1773, is an interesting indication of his efforts for 
the settlement of these lands. See the Wash ijtgton-Craioford Letters Con- 
cerning Western Lands, edited by C. W. Butter field. Crawford was the 
surveyor employed by Washington on the Ohio. These letters, says Profes- 
sor Herbert B. Adams (see his paper on Washington's Interest in Western 
Lands, in the Johns Hopkins University Studies in History, third series, No. 
i), "throw a strong light upon the enterprising nature of that man who was, 
assuredly, * first in peace,' and who, even if the Revolution had not broken 
out, would have become the most active and representative spirit in Ameri- 
can affairs. Washington's plans for the colonization of his western lands, 
by importing Germans from the Palatinate, are but an index of the direction 
his business pursuits might have taken, had not duty called him to command 
the Army and afterwards to head the State." See Washington's letter to 
the Countess of Huntingdon, Feb. 27, 1785 (Sparks, ix, 98, — see also 
note to letter to Richard Henry Lee, p. 92), in relation to her scheme for 
missionary work among the Indians in the West, for reference to his posses- 
sion of these Ohio lands at that time ; also the schedule attached to his will. 
The Journal of his own tour to the Ohio in 1770, to inspect these lands, 
should be read for the impressions of the western country recorded in it. 

In a letter to Thomas Johnson, the first state-governor of Maryland, 
dated July 20, 1770, Washington suggested that the opening up of the Poto- 
mac be "recommended to public notice upon a more enlarged plan, as a 
means of becoming the channel of conveyance of the extensive and valuable 
trade of a rising empire ;" and he became the principal mover of a bill for 
the incorporation of a company to attempt the extension of the navigation of 
the Potomac (see his reference to this in his letter to Jefferson, above). 
Fifteen years before this he had recommended the construction of a military 
road to the Ohio. His first thought at the close of the Revolution was of 
the importance of establishing good communication with the West. Even 
before peace was definitely declared, he left the camp at Newburg and, at 
great personal risk, explored on horseback the Mohaw route (see his 
account of this trip in his letter to the Chevalier de Chastellux, above. 
Oct. 12, 1783). "Prompted by these actual observations," he says, "I 
could not help taking a more contemplative and extensive view of the 
vast inland navigation of these United States, and could not but be struck 
with the immense diffusion and im])ortance of it, and with the goodness of 
that Providence which has dealt his favors to us with so profuse a hand 



Would to God we may have wisdom enough to improve them ! I shall not 
rest contented until I have explored the western country, and traversed 
those rivers (or a great part of them) which have given bounds to a new em- 
pire." Three months after his return to Mount Vernon, he wrote the letter 
to Jefferson, given above. On the ist of September, he started on an 
exploring tour to the head waters of the Ohio, traveling nearly 700 miles on 
horseback, writing a careful journal, making careful maps, and selecting 
routes which have since become substantially the lines of the branches of the 
Baltimore and Ohio railroad. The first result of this tour was the letter to 
Governor Harrison, here printed, Oct. 10, 1784. The next result was the 
Potomac Company, organized in 17815, with Washington as its first president. 
See Pickell's A iVeiu Chapter in the Early Life of Washington, for a full 
history of the Potomac Company; also Andrew Stewart's Report on the 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, in 1826 — containing many striking observations 
of Washington to members of Congress on the importance of opening up the 
West and binding the sections of the country firmly together ; and various 
letters to Richard Henry Lee and others in 1784 and 1785 (Sparks, ix). For 
Washington's interest in the Ordinance of 1787 and his services in behalf of 
General Ruf us Putnam and the Ohio Company, in the settlement of Marietta 
and the organization of the Northwest territory, see Cone's Life of Rufus 
Putnam, the Life, Journals, and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, 
_and the St. Clair Papers. Read his warning against jealousies and differ- 
"ences between the East and the West, in the Farezvell Address. The whole 
history of Washington's interest in the West, his earnest efforts for its open- 
ing and its settlement by men of character, and his visions of its future, show 
him to have been in this great matter the most far-sighted and sagacious 
man of his time. 

Benjamin Harrison, Governor of Virginia in 1784, one of the signers 
of the Declaration of Independence, was the father of William Henry 
Harrison, and great-grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, President of the 
United States in 1889. Washington's letter of January 22, 1785, to Harri- 
son, also included in the present leaflet, was in acknowledgment of a letter 
from the Governor, informing him of the vote of the Virginia Assembly 
complimenting him with fifty shares in the Potomac Company and one 
hundred in the James River Company, in recognition of the great advantage 
to the State which his influence and services in behalf of these schemes had 
been (see notes in Sparks, ix, 83, 85). Washington, in deference to the 
kind public feeling, finally consented to receive the shares, with the under- 
standing that they should be applied to such public interests as he might 
direct. The James River stock he donated to Liberty Hall Academy, at 
Lexington, Va., which in consideration of this endowment was then named 
Washington College, and is now^ since the presidency of Gen. Robert E. 
Lee after 'the civil war and his death there, known as Washington and Lee 
University (see art. on W^ashington and Lee University, in appendix to 
Professor Herbert B. Adams's monograph on Thomas Jefferson and the 
University of Virginia, published by the U. S. Bureau of Education). 
The Potomac stock, which unhappily never became productive, he left in his 
will (see extract, above) toward the endowment of a National University, 
which he hoped would be established at Washington under the auspices of the 
general government. He believed that a plan for such a university at the 
national capital should be " devised on a liberal scale," and that it " would 
have a tendency to spread systematic ideas through all parts of this rising 
empire, thereby to do away local attachments and State prejudices, as far as 
the nature of things would or indeed ought to admit, from our national 
councils.'' Jie especially mentions "the principles of politics and good 
£oveii*nment " as among those things with which such an institution should 



lb 

concern itself. This project of a National University was one of Washing- 
ton's favorite projects in his last years (see letters to John Adams, Jefferson 
and others, in Sparks, xi, 1-23; see also chapter on the subject in Professor 
Herbert B. Adams's pamphlet in the Johns Hopkins Studies, iii, i, quoted 
above, and his address of Feb. 22, 1889, on The Encotiragemeiit of Higher 
Education). He desired to incorporate a clause concerning it in his Fare- 
well Address (see letters in Binney's Inquiry into the Foj-jnation of Washing- 
ton's Farewell Address, pp. 63, 64), but was persuaded by Hamilton to urge 
the matter instead in his last speech to Congress (see the same in Sparks", 
xii, 71). The whole subject of Washington's interest in education should 
receive more careful attention than it has received. It is of the highest 
interest that he should have appropriated to these two important educa- 
tional causes the shares which came to him for his services in opening up 
the great West. 

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

With Bibliographical and Historical Notes and Outlines for Study. 

Prepared by Edwin D. Mead. 



This manual is published by the Directors of the Old South Studies in 
History and Politics, for the use of schools and of such clubs, classes and 
individual students as may wish to make a careful study of the Constitution 
and its history. The societies of young men and women now happily being 
organized everywhere in America for historical and political study can do 
nothing better to begin with than to make themselves thoroughly familiar 
with the Constitution. It is especially with such societies in view that the 
table of topics for study, which follows the very full bibliographical notes in 
this manual, has been prepared. A copy of the manual will be sent to any 
address on receipt of twenty-five cents ; rrnn hnnrh-tiit rnpi n-i ; fiftcrn rinllm n 
Address Directors of Old South Studies, Old South Meeting House^ 
f \ lhni \ & i CTd i; J i fu i iiuiULitu^i ui', Jli'ij^ »r < i 



OLD SOUTH LEAFLETS, GENERAL SERIES. 



No. I. Constitution of the United States. 2. Articles of Confedera- 
tion. 3. Declaration of Independence. 4. Washington's Farewell Ad- 
dress. 5. Magna Charta. 6. Vane's "Healing Question." 7. Charter 
of Massachusetts Bay, 1629. 8. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1638. 
9. Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754. 10. Washington's Inaugurals. 11. Lin- 
coln's Inaugurals and Emancipation Proclamation. 12. The Federalist, 
Nos. I and 2. 13. The Ordinance of 1787. 14. The Constitution of Ohio* 

15. Washington's Circular Letter to the Governors of the States, 1783. 

16. Washington's Letter to Benjamin Harrison, 1784. — etc. Price, five 
cents per copy ; *iaM»i4wMidiMAi^iftiiiaapwriMM^ riillwui Directors of Old 
South Studies, Old South Meeting House, Boston. 

PUBLISHED BY 

THE DIRECTORS OF THE OLD SOUTH WORK, 
Old South Meeting House, Boston. 




<^\r} M>ontt^ ntafltt^. 



No. 76. 



Washington's 

Words on a 

National 

University. 



EXTRACT FROM WASHINGTON S WILL. 

Item — Whereas by a law of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 
enacted in the year 1785, the Legislature thereof was pleased 
(as an evidence of it's approbation of the services I had ren- 
dered the public, during the Revolution — and partly, I believe 
in consideration of my having suggested the vast advantages 
which" the community would derive from the extension of its 
Inland navigation, under legislative patronage) to present me 
with one hundred shares, of one hundred dollars each, in the 
incorporated company established for the purpose of extending 
the navigation of James River from tide water to the moun- 
tains ; and also with fifty shares of one hundred pounds sterl- 
ing each in the corporation of another company likewise estab- 
lished for the similar purpose of opening the navigation of the 
River Potomac from tide water to Fort Cumberland ; the ac- 
ceptance of which, although the offer was highly honorable 
and grateful to my feelings, was refused, as inconsistent with 
a principle which I had adopted, and had never departed 
from, nalnely not to receive pecuniary compensation for any 
services I could render my country in it's arduous struggle 
with Great Britain for it's Rights ; and because I had evaded 
similar propositions from other States in the Union — adding 
to this refusal however an intimation, that, if it should be the 
pleasure of the Legislature to permit me to appropriate the 
said shares io public uses, I would receive them on those terms 
with due sensibility — and this it having consented to in liatter- 
ing terms, as will appear by a subsequent law and sundry reso- 



lutions, in the most ample and honorable manner, I proceed 
after this recital for the more correct understanding of the case 
to declare — 

That as it has always been a source of serious regret with 
me to see the youth of these United States sent to foreign 
countries for the purpose of education, often before their 
minds were formed or they had imbibed any adequate ideas 
of the happiness of their own, contracting too frequently not 
only habits of dissipation and extravagence, but principles un- 
friendly to Republican Governm't and to the true and genuine 
liberties of mankind, which thereafter are rarely overcome. 
■ — For these reasons it has been my ardent wish to see a plan 
devised on a liberal scale which would have a tendency to 
spread systematic ideas through all parts of this rising Empire, 
thereby to do away local attachments and state prejudices as 
far as the nature of things would, or indeed ought to admit, 
from our national councils — Looking anxiously forward to the 
accomplishment of so desirable an object as this is, (in my esti- 
mation) my mind has not been able to contemplate any plan 
more likely to effect the measure than the establishment of a 
University in a central part of the United States to which the 
youth of fortune and talents from all parts thereof might be 
sent for the completion of their education in all the branches 
of polite literature in arts and sciences — in acquiring knowl- 
edge in the principles of Politics and good Government and 
(as a matter of infinite importance in my judgment) by asso- 
ciating with each other and forming friendships in Juvenile 
years, be enabled to free themselves in a proper degree from 
those local prejudices and habitual jealousies which have 
just been mentioned and which when carried to excess are 
never failing sources of disquietude to the Public mind and 
pregnant of mischievous consequences to this country : — under 
these impressions so fully dilated, — 

Item - — I give and bequeath in perpetuity the fifty shares 
which I hold in the Potomac Company (under the aforesaid 
Acts of the Legislature of Virginia) towards the endowment of 
a University to be established within the limits of the District 
of Columbia, under the auspices of the General Government, 
if that Government should incline to extend a fostering hand 
towards it,- — and until such seminary is established, and the 
funds alising on these shares shall be required for its support, 
my further will and desire is that the profit accruing therefrom 



shall whenever the dividends are made be laid out in purchas- 
ing stock in the Bank of Columbia or some other Bank at the 
discretion of my Executors, or by the Treasurer of the United 
States for the time being under the direction of Congress, pro- 
vided that Honorable body should patronize the measure. 
And the dividends proceeding from the purchase of such Stock 
is to be vested in more Stock and so on until a sum adequate 
to the accomplishment of the object is obtained, of v/hich I 
have not the smallest doubt before many years pass away, even 
if no aid or eticoiiraged is given by Legislative authority or from 
any other source. 

Item — The hundred shares which I held in the James 
River Company I have given and now confirm in perpetuity to 
and for the use and benefit of Liberty Hall Academy in the 
County of Rockbridge, in the Commonwealth of Virga. 



TO JOHN ADAMS, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

T-. o Saturday, 27 November, 1704. 

Dear Sir, ' > /y^ 

I have not been able to give the papers herewith enclosed 
more than a hasty reading, returning them without delay, that 
you may offer the perusal of them to whomsoever you shall 
think proper. The picture, drawn in them, of the Genevese is 
really interesting and affecting. The proposition of transplant- 
ing the members entire of the university of that place to 
America, w^ith the requisition of means to establish the same, 
and to be accompanied by a considerable emigration, is impor- 
tant, requiring more consideration than under the circum- 
stances of the moment I am able to bestow upon it. 

That a national university in this country is a thing to be 
desired,^ has always been my decided opinion ; and the appro- 
priation of ground and funds for it in the Federal City has 
long been contemplated and talked of ; but how far matured, 
or how far the transporting of an entire seminary of foreigners, 
who may not understand our language, can be assimilated 
therein, is more than I am prepared to give an opinion upon ; 
or, indeed, how far funds in either case are attainable. 

My opinion, with respect to emigration, is, that except of 
useful mechanics, and some particular descriptions < . men or 
professions, there is no need of encouragement ; w^hile the 



policy or advantage of its taking place in a body (I mean the 
settling of them in a body) may be much questioned ; for by so 
doing they retain the language, habits, and principles, good or 
bad, which they bring with them. Whereas, by an intermixture 
with our people, they or their descendants get assimilated to 
our customs, measures, and laws ; in a word, soon become one 
people. 

I shall, at any leisure hour after the session is fairly opened, 
take pleasure in a full and free conversation with you on this 
subject, being with much esteem and regard, dear Sir, &c. 



TO EDIilUND RANDOLPH, SECRETARY OF STATE, 

T^ ^ Philadelphia, 15 December, 1794. 

JJEAR oIR, 

For the reasons mentioned to you the other day, namely, the 
Virginia Assembly being in session, and a plan being on foot 
for establishing a seminary of learning upon an extensive scale 
in the Federal City, it would oblige me if you and Mr. Madison 
would endeavour to mature the measures, which will be proper 
for me to pursue,* in order to bring my designs into view as 
soon as you can make it convenient to yourselves. 

I do not know that the enclosed, or sentiments similar to 
them, are proper to be engrafted in the communications, which 
are to be made to the legislature of Virginia or to the gentle- 
men who are named as trustees of the seminary which is pro- 
posed to be established in the Federal City ; but, as it is an 
extract of what is contained in my Will on this subject, I send 
it merely for consideration. 

The shares in the different navigations are to be located and 
applied in the manner, which has been the subject of conversa- 
tion. Yours, &c. 



TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE FEDERAL DISTRICT. 

„ Philadelphia, 2S January, i7QS- 

Gentlemen, ^ 

A plan for the establishment of a university in the Federal 
City has frequently been the subject of conversation ; but, in 

* In regard to the disposition of the shares in the Potomac and James River Navigation, 
which had been given to him by Virginia, and which he proposed to appropriate for purposes 
of education within the State. 



.5 

what manner it is proposed to commence this important msti- 
tution, on how extensive a scale, the means by which it is to be 
effected, how it is to be supported, or what progress is made in 
it, are matters aUogether unknown to me. 

It has always been a source of serious reflection and smcere 
regret with me, that the youth of the United States should 
be*^ sent to foreign countries for the purpose of education. 
Although there are doubtless many, under these circumstances, 
who escape the danger of contracting principles unfavorable to 
republican government, yet we ought to deprecate the hazard 
attending ardent and susceptible minds, from being too strongly 
and too early prepossessed in favor of other political systems, 
before they are capable of appreciating their own. 

For this reason I have greatly wished to see a plan adopted, 
by which the arts, sciences, and belles-lettres could be taught 
in their fullest extent, thereby embracing all the advantages of 
European tuition, with the means of acquiring the liberal 
knowledge, which is necessary to qualify our citizens for the 
exigencies of public as well as private life ; and (which with me 
is a consideration of great magnitude) by assembling the youth 
from the different parts of this rising republic, contributing 
from their intercourse and interchange of information to the 
removal of prejudices, which might perhaps sometimes arise 
from local circumstances. 

The Federal City, from its centrality and the advantages 
which in other respects it must have over any other place in 
the United States, ought to be preferred, as a proper site for 
such a university. And if a plan can be adopted upon a scale 
as extensive as I have described, and the execution of it should 
commence under favorable auspices in a reasonable time, with 
a fair prospect of success, I will grant in perpetuity fifty shares 
in the navigation of the Potomac River towards the endowment 

of it. . , , 

What annuity will arise from these fifty shares, when the 
navigation is in full operation, can at this time be only conjec- 
tured ; and those who are acquainted with it can form as good 
a judgment as myself. 

As the design of this university has assumed no form with 
which I am acquainted, and as I am equally ignorant who the 
persons are, who have taken or are disposed to take the matur- 
ing of the plan upon themselves, I have been at a loss to whom 
I should make this communication of my intentions. If the 



Commissioners of the Federal City have any particular agency 
in bringing the matter forward, then the information, which I 
now give to them, is in its proper course. If, on the other 
hand, they have no more to do in it than others, who may be 
desirous of seeing so important a measure carried into effect, 
they will be so good as to excuse my using them as the medium 
for disclosing these my intentions ; because it appears neces- 
sary that the funds for the establishment and support of the 
institution should be known to the promoters of it ; and I see 
no mode more eligible for announcing my purpose. For these 
reasons, I give you the trouble of this address, and the assur- 
ance of being, Gentlemen, &c. 



TO THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

Philadelphia, i ; March, 170 c;. 
Dear Sir, -^ 

I received your letter of the 23d ultimo ;* but not at so early 
a period as might have been expected from the date of it. My 
mind has always been more disposed to apply the shares in 
the inland navigation of the Potomac and James Rivers, which 
were left to my disposal by the legislature of Virginia, towards 
the endowment of a university in the United States, than to 
any other object it had contemplated. In pursuance of this 
idea, and understanding that other means are in embryo for 
establishing so useful a seminary in the Federal City, I did, on 
the 28th of January last, announce to the commissioners 
thereof my intention of vesting in perpetuity the fifty shares I 
hold under that act in the navigation of the Potomac, as an 
additional means of carrying the plan into effect, provided it 
should be adopted upon a scale so liberal as to extend to and 
embrace a complete system of education. 

I had little hesitation in giving the Federal City a preference 
over all other places for the institution, for the following rea- 
sons. First, on account of its being the permanent seat of the 
government of. this Union, and where the laws and policy of it 
must be better understood than in any local part thereof. 
Secondly, because of its centrality. Thirdly, because one half 
(or near it) of the District of Columbia is within the Common- 

* Respecting a plan of several professors of Geneva for migrating to the United States. 
See Mr. Jefferson's letter in the appendix to vol. xi. of Sparkss edition of Washington's 
writings. 



wealth of Virginia, and the whole of the State not inconvenient 
thereto. Fourthly, because, as a part of the endowment, it 
would be useful, but alone would be inadequate to the end. 
Fifthly, because many advantages, I conceive, would result 
from the jurisdiction which the general government will have 
over it, which no other spot would possess. And, lastly, as 
this seminary is contemplated for the completion of education 
and study of the sciences, not for boys in their rudiments, it 
will afford the students an opportunity of attending the debates 
in Congress, and thereby becoming more liberally and better 
acquainted with the principles of law and government. 

My judgment and my wishes point equally strong to the 
application of the James River shares to the same subject at 
the same place ; but, considering the source from wdience they 
were derived, I have, in a letter I am writing to the executive 
of Virginia on this subject, left the application of them to a 
seminary within the State, to be located by the legislature. 

Hence you will perceive, that I have in a degree anticipated 
your proposition. I was restrained from going the whole 
length of the suggestion by the following considerations. 
First, I did not know to what extent or when any plan would 
be so matured for the establishment of a university, as would 
enable any assurances to be given to the application of M. 
D'lvernois. Secondly, the propriety of transplanting the pro- 
fessors in a body might be questioned for several reasons; 
among others, because they might not be all good characters, 
nor all sufficiently acquainted with our language. And again, 
having been at variance with the levelling party of their own 
country, the measure might be considered as an aristocratical 
movement by more than those who, without any just cause 
that I can discover, are continually sounding the bell of aris- 
tocracy. And, thirdly, because it might preclude some of the 
first professors in other countries from a participation, among 
whom some of the most celebrated characters in Scotland, in 
this line, might be obtained. 

Something, but of what nature I am unable to inform' you, 
has been written by Mr. Adams to M. D'lvernois. Never 
having viewed my intended donation as more than a part of 
the means that were to set this establishment on foot, I did 
not incline to go too far in the encouragement of professors, 
before the plan should assume a more formal shape, much less 
to induce an entire college to migrate. The enclosed is the 



8 

answer I have received from the commissioners ; from which, 
and the ideas I have here expressed, you will be enabkd to 
decide on the best communication to be made to M. D'lvernois. 
My letter to the commissioners has bound me to the fufil- 
ment of what is therein engaged ; and, if the legislature of 
Virginia, on considering the subject, should view it in the same 
light as I do, the James River shares will be added thereto r 
for I think one good institution of this sort is to be preferred 
to two imperfect ones, which, without other aid than the shares 
in both navigations, is more likely to fall through, than to suc- 
ceed upon the plan I contemplate ; which is, in a few words, to 
supersede the necessity of sending the youth of this country 
abroad for the purpose of education, where too often principles 
and habits unfriendly to republican government are imbibed, 
and not easily discarded. Instituting such a one of our own, 
as will answer the end, and associating them in the same semi- 
nary, will contribute to wear off those prejudices and unreason- 
able jealousies, which prevent or weaken friendships and impair 
the harmony of the Union. With very great esteem, I am, &c. 

P. S. Mr. Adams laid before me the communications of 
M. D'lvernois ; but I said nothing to him of my intended dona- 
tion towards the establishment of a university in the Federal 
District. My wishes would be to fix this on the Virginia side 
of the Potomac River ; but this would not embrace or accord 
with those other means, which are proposed for the establish- 
ment. 



TO ROBERT BROOKE, GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. 
Slj^ Philadelphia, i6 March, 1795. 

Ever since the General Assembly of Virginia were pleased to 
submit to my disposal fifty shares in the Potomac, and one 
hundred in the James River Company, it has been my anxious 
desire to appropriate them to an object most w^orthy of public 
regard. 

It is with indescribable regret that I have seen the youth of 
the United States migrating to foreign countries, in order to 
acquire the higher branches of erudition, and to obtain a 
knowledge of the sciences. Although it would be injustice to 
many to pronounce the certainty of their imbibing maxims not 
congenial with republicanism, it must nevertheless be admitted 



that a serious danger is encountered by sending abroad among 
other poUtical systems those who have not well learned the 
value of their own. 

The time is therefore come, when a plan of universal educa- 
tion ought to be adopted in the United States. Not only do 
the exigencies of public and private life demand it, but, if it 
should ever be apprehended that prejudice would be enter- 
tained in one part of the Union against another, an efficacious 
remedy will be, to assemble the youth of every part under such 
circumstances as will, by the freedom of intercourse and colli- 
sion of sentiment, give to their minds the direction of truth, 
philanthropy, and mutual conciliation. 

It has been represented, that a university corresponding with 
these ideas is contemplated to be built in the Federal City, and 
that it will receive considerable endowments. This position is 
so eligible from its centrality, so convenient to Virginia, by 
whose legislature the shares were granted and in which part of 
the Federal District stands, and combines so many other con- 
veniences, that I have determined to vest the Potomac shares 
in that university. 

Presuming it to be more agreeable to the General Assembly 
of Virginia, that the shares in the James River Company 
should be reserved for a similar object in some part of that 
State, I intend to allot them for a seminary to be erected at 
such place as they shall deem most proper. I am disposed to 
believe, that a seminary of learning upon an enlarged plan, but 
yet not coming up to the full idea of a university, is an institu- 
tion to be preferred for the position which is to be chosen. 
The students who wish to pursue the whole range of science 
may pass with advantage from the seminary to the university, 
and the former by a due relation may be rendered cooperative 
with the latter. 

I cannot however dissemble my opinion, that if all the share-s 
were conferred on a university, it would become far more 
important than when they are divided ; and I have been con- 
strained from concentring them in the same place, merely by 
my anxiety to reconcile a particular attention to Virginia with 
a great good, in which she will abundantly share in common 
with the rest of the United States. 

• I must beg the favor of your Excellency to lay this letter be- 
fore that honorable body, at their next session, in order that I 
may appropriate the James River shares to the place which 



10 

they may prefer. They will at the same time again accept my 
acknowledgments for the opportunity, with which they have 
favored me, of attempting to supply so important a desideratum 
in the United States as a university adequate to our necessity, 
and a preparatory seminary. With great consideration and 
respect, I am. Sir, &c.* 



TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

,, -r. n. Philadelphia, i September, 1706. 

My Dear Sir, ^ '^ 

About the middle of last week I wrote to you ; and that it 
might escape the eye of the inquisitive (for some of my letters 
have lately been pried into), I took the liberty of putting it 
under a cover to Mr. Jay. 

Since then, revolving on the paper that was inclosed therein, 
on the various matters it contained, and on the first expression 
of the advice or recommendation which was given in it, I have 
regretted that another subject (which in my estimation is of 
interesting concern to the well-being of this country) was not 
touched upon also ; — I mean education generally, as one of 
the surest means of enlightening and giving just ways of 
thinking to our citizens, but particularly the establishment of 
a university ; where the youth from all parts of the United 
States might receive the polish of erudition in the arts, 
sciences, and belles-lettres ; and where those who were dis- 

* This letter was accordingly communicated by the Governor of Virginia to the Assembly 
at their next session, when the following resolves were passed. 

" In the House of Delegates, i December, 1795. 

" Whereas the migration of American youth to foreign countries, for the completion of 
their education, exposes them to the danger of imbibing political prejudices disadvantageous 
to their own republican forms of government, and ought therefore to be rendered unnecessary 
and avoided ; 

" Resolved, that the plan contemplated of erecting a university in the Federal City, where 
the youth of the several States may be assembled, and their course of education finished, 
deserves the countenance and support of each State. 

"And whereas, when the General Assembly presented sundry shares in the James River 
and Potomac Companies to George Washington, as a small token of their gratitude for the 
great, eminent, and unrivalled services he had rendered to this commonweaitli, to tlie United 
States, and the world at large, in support of the principles of liberty and equal government, it 
was their wish and desire that he should appropriate them as he miglit think, best ; and 
whereas, the present General Assembly retain the same high sense of his virtues, wisdom, and 
patriotism ; 

" Resolved, therefore, that the appropriation by the said George Washington of the afore- 
said sliares in the Potomac Company to the university, intended to be erected in the Federal 
City, IS made in a manner most worthy of public regard, and of the approbation of this com- 
monwealth. 

" Resolved, also, that he be requested to appropriate the aforesaid shares in the James 
River Company to a seminary at such place in the upper country, as he may deem most con- 
venient to a majority of the inhabitants thereof." 



II 

posed to run a political course might not only be instructed 
in the theory and principles, but (this seminary being at the 
seat of the general government) where the legislature would be 
in session half the year, and the interests and politics of the 
nation of course would be discussed, they would lay the surest 
foundation for the practical part also. 

But that which would render it of the highest importance, in 
my opinion, is, that the juvenal period of life, when friendships 
are formed, and habits established, that will stick by one ; the 
youth or young men from different parts of the United States 
would be assembled together, and would by degrees discover 
that there was not that cause for those jealousies and preju- 
dices which one part of the Union had imbibed against another 
part : — of course, sentiments of more liberality in the general 
policy of the country would result from it. What but the 
mixing of people from different parts of the United States dur- 
ing the war rubbed off these impressions ? A century, in the 
ordinary intercourse, w^ould not have accomplished what the 
seven years' association in arms did ; but that ceasing, preju- 
dices are beginning to revive again, and never will be eradi- 
cated so effectually by any other means as the intimate inter- 
course of characters in early life, — who, in all probability, will 
be at the head of the counsels of this country in a more ad- 
vanced stage of it. 

To show that this is no new idea of mine, I may appeal to 
my early communications to Congress ; and to prove how 
seriously I have reflected on it since, and how well disposed 
I have been, and still am, to contribute my aid towards carry- 
ing the measure into effect, I inclose you the extract of a letter 
from me to the governor of Virginia on this subject, and a 
copy of the resolves of the legislature of that State in conse- 
quence thereof. 

I have not the smallest doubt that this donation (when the 
navigation is in complete operation, which it certainly will be 
in less than two years), will amount to ^^"1200 to ;^i5oo sterl- 
ing a year, and become a rapidly increasing fund. The -pro- 
prietors of the federal city have talked of doing something 
handsome towards it likewise ; and if Congress would appro- 
priate some of the western lands to the same uses, funds suffi- 
cient, and of the most permanent and increasing sort, might be 
so established as to invite the ablest professors in Europe to 
conduct it. 



Let me pray you, therefore to introduce a section in the 
address expressive of these sentiments, and recommendatory 
of the measure, without any mention, however, of my proposed 
personal contribution to the plan. 

Such a section would come in very properly after the one 
which relates to our religious obligations, or in a preceding 
part, as one of the recommendatory measures to counteract 
the evils arising from geographical discriminations. With af- 
fectionate regard, 1 am always. 



TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE FEDERAL DISTRICT. 

^ Mount Vernon, 21 October, 1796. 

Gentlemen, 

According to my promise, I have given the several matters, 
contained in your letter of the ist instant the best considera- 
tion I am able. The following is the result ; subject, however, 
to alterations, if upon fuller investigation and the discussion 
I mean to have with you on these topics on my way to Phila- 
delphia, I should find cause therefor. 

Had not those obstacles opposed themselves to it, which are 
enumerated by one of the commissioners, I should, for reasons 
which are now unnecessary to assign, have given a decided 
preference to the site which was first had in contemplation for 
a university in the Federal City. But, as these obstacles 
appear to be insurmountable, the next best site for this pur- 
pose, in my opinion, is the square surrounded by numbers 
twenty-one, twenty-two, thirty-four, forty-five, sixty to sixty- 
three, and I decide in favor of it accordingly. 

Conceiving, if there be space sufficient to afford it, that a 
botanical garden would be a good appendage to the institution 
of a university, part of this square- might be applied to that 
purpose. If inadequate, and the square, designated in the 
plan of Major L'Enfant for a marine hospital, is susceptible 
of that institution and a botanical garden also, ground there 
might be appropriated to this use. If neither will admit of it, 
I see no solid objection against commencing this work within 
the President's square, it being previously understood that it 
is not to be occupied for this purpose beyond a certain period, 
or until circumstances would enable or induce the public to 
improve it into pleasure-walks, 



Although I have no hesitation in giving it as my opinion, 
that all the squares, excepting those of the Capitol and Presi- 
dent, designated for public purposes, are subject to such 
appropriations as will best accommodate public views ; yet it 
is and always has been my belief, that it would impair the con- 
fidence which ought to be had in the public, to convert them 
to private uses, or to dispose of them otherwise than tempo- 
rarily to individuals. The plan which has been exhibited to, 
and dispersed through, all parts of the world, gives strong 
indications of a different design ; and an innovation in one 
instance would lay the foundation for applications in many, 
and produce consequences which cannot be foreseen nor 
perhaps easily remedied. My doubts, therefore, with respect 
to designating the square on the Eastern Branch for a marine 
hospital, did not proceed from an idea that it might be con- 
verted, advantageously, into salable lots, but from the utility 
of having an hospital in the city at all. Finding, however, 
that it is usual in other countries to have them there, the 
practice, it is to be presumed, is founded in convenience ; and, 
as it might be difficult to procure a site out of the city, which 
would .answer the purpose, I confirm the original idea of 
placing it where it is marked in L'Enfant's plan. 

I am disposed to believe, if foreign states are inclined to 
erect buildings for their representatives near the government 
of the United States, that the sites for these buildings had 
better be left to the choice of their respective ministers. For, 
besides the reasons which have been already adduced against 
innovations, it is very questionable, whether ground so low as 
that in the Capitol square, west of the building, would be their 
choice. To fix them there, then, might be the means of 
defeating the object altogether. 

As the business of the executive officers will be chiefly, if 
not altogether, with the President, sites for their offices ought 
to be convenient to his residence. But, as the identical spots 
can be better chosen on the ground, with the plan of the city 
before me, than by the latter alone, I will postpone this deci- 
sion until my arrival therein ; as I shall also do other appro- 
priations of public squares, if it be necessary to take the 
matter up before my return to Philadelphia. 

It might be well to amplify on those subjects which you 
conceive ought to be laid before Congress, or the national 
council, and to suggest the mode which you may have con- 



templated as best for the purpose, against my arrival, which, 
probably, will be on Tuesday or Wednesday next. With great 
esteem, I am, &:c. 



TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF WASHINGTON. 

^ Philadelphia, i December, 1796. 

Gentlemen, 

Your Letter of the 25th ulto. came to hand on Tuesday last ; 
but it was not in my power to give it an earlier acknowledg- 
ment : — and now I must do it without resorting to papers (to 
be perfectly correct.) — The pressure of my business with the 
different Departments, previous to the meeting of X'ongress — 
and my own preparation for that event, leaves me but little 
time to attend to other matters. 

The discontents with which you are assailed by one or other 
of the proprietors in the Federal City, must, unquestionably, be 
very disagreeable and troublesome to you, for they are ex- 
tremely irksome to me. 

In the case however before us, I conceive Mr„ Corachichi 
might have ' received a definitive answer, without referring the 
matter to the Executive. On what part of the Contract with 
Greenleaf he has founded an opinion that a site was designated 
for a University, and has built his complaints — or how it 
came to pass, that any allusion to such a measure should have 
found its way into that contract, I have no more recollection 
than I have a conception, of what could have induced it ; — for 
your clerk has omitted sending the Extract. 

It is a well known fact, or to say the least, it has been 
always understood by me, that the establishment of a Univer- 
sity in the Federal City depended upon several contingencies ; 
— one of which, and a material one too — was donations for 
the purpose. Until lately, this business could scarcely be said 
to have advanced beyond the zuishes of its advocates, although 
these wishes were accompanied generally with expressions of 
what might be expected; and whenever the names of Mr. 
Blodget and the proprietors of that vicinity were mentioned 
in relation to this business the idea (expressed or implied) 
always was — that they meant to give the ground. 

Is this the intention of Mr. Corachichi relative to the object 
he is now contending for? if it is, and a sufficient space of 
ground, on these terms, can be obtained there for this purpose. 



15. 

without interfering with the property of Orphans, my opinion 
is, that the University ought to be placed there. — But, if this 
is not the design, can that Gentleman, or any other expect that 
the public will buy (for an exchange is a purchase, and may be 
of the most troublesome kind) when it has unappropriated 
ground nearly as convenient ? — and why do this ? — because a 
site has been loosely talked of, because a proprietor to enhance 
the sale of his property has colored the advantages of it as 
highly as he could, — and because the purchaser, omitting to 
investigate matters beforehand, wants the public to encounter 
an expence — it is unable to bear — by way of redress for his 
own incaution. — For what would have been the ansv/er of the 
Commissioners, if he had previously applied to them, to know 
if a University w^ould be placed where he is now contending 
for ? — Certainly, that he ought not to calculate upon it. — If 
that would have been the answer then (and unless there are 
facts which have escaped my recollection) I can conceive no 
other could have been given, it is not inapplicable at present. 
A University was not even contemplated by Major L'Enfant 
in the plan of the city which was laid before Congress ; taking 
its origin from another source. — This plan you shall receive 
by the first safe hand who may be going to the Federal City. — 
By it you may discover (tho' almost obliterated) the directions 
given to the Engraver by Mr. Jefferson, with a pencil, what 
parts to omit. — The principle on which it was done I have 
communicated to you on more occasions than one. With 
esteem &c. 

P. S. Since writing the foregoing, I have received the ex- 
tract, omitted to be enclosed in your letter of the 25 th ulto. 

I do not recollect ever to have seen or heard of it before. — 
Nor' do I see any cause to change my opinion since I have 
done so, unless upon the condition which is mentioned in the 
body of this letter — that is, receiving the ground for the pur- 
posed site, as a donation. 



FROM Washington's speech to congress, December 7, 1796. 

I have heretofore proposed to the consideration of Congress, the expe- 
diency of establishing a national university, and also a military academy. 
The desirableness of both these institutions has so constantly increased 
with every new view I have taken of the subject, that I cannot omit the 
opportunity of once for all recalling your attention to them. 



i6 

The assembly to which I address myself is too enlightened not to be 
fully sensible how much a flourishing state of the arts and sciences con- 
tributes to national prosperity and reputation. True it is, that our country, 
much to its honor, contains many seminaries of learning highly respectable 
and useful ; but the funds upon which they rest are too narrow to command 
the ablest professors, in the different departments of liberal knowledge, for 
the institution contemplated, though they would be excellent auxiliaries. 

Amongst the motives to such an institution, the assimilation of the prin; 
ciples, opinions, and manners of our countrymen, by the com.mon education 
of a portion of our youth from every quarter, well deserves attention. The 
more homogeneous our citizens can be made in these particulars, the 
greater will be our prospect of permanent union; and a primary object of 
such a national institution should be the education of our youth in the 
science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be 
equally imiportant, and what duty more pressing on its legislature, than to 
patronize a plan for communicating it to those who are to l)e the future 
guardians of the liberties of the country ? 



The project of a national university was a favorite project with Washington during all 
his later years. Broached in his early communications to Congress, it soon found important 
and frequent place in liis letters and addresses. It became more definite as he considered 
the public use to wiiich he sliould put the shares in the Potomac Company presented him 
by tha State of Virginia in consideration of his servnces in organizing that company to pro- 
mote commimication with the Great West. See, with reference to this, Washington's Letter 
to Benjamin Harrison, and notes, in Old South Leaflet, No. i6. He desired to introduce 
a section recommending the national university into his Farewell Address (see his letter to 
Hamilton in this leaflet); but Hamilton persuaded him to put this instead into his last 
speech to Congress,— although, in respecting Hamilton's advice, he wrote him as follows: 
"To be candid, I much question whether a recommendation to the legislature will have a 
better effect «<?«/ th?in yhr>;icrfy. It may show, indeed, my sense of its importance, and that 
is a sufficient inducement with 7ne to bring the matter before the public, in some shape or 
another, at the closing scenes of my political exit. IMy object for proposing to insert it where 
I did (if not improper) was to set the people ruminating on the importance of the measure as 
the most likely means of bringing it to pass." See Binney's Inquiry info ike Formation 
of Washington s Fareivcll Address, pp. 63, 64. The Potomac stock which Washington left 
in his will toward the endowment of the national university unhappily never became pro- 
ductive. But in our own time the demand for a national university at \\^ashington has be- 
come frequent and strong, and is supported by the same arguments which Washington used 
a hundred years ago. See the various addresses and articles by President Andrew D. White, 
President Jordan, Hon. John W. Ho^'t, and other leading educators. " It would seem," 
says Professor Herbert B. Adams, " as though, in one way or another, all lines of our public 
policy lead back to Washington, as all roads lead to Rome." See Professor Adams's paper 
on George JVashi7igto>i's Interest in JVestern Lands, the Potomac Company, and a Na- 
tional University, in the Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political 
Science, iii. i; also his address (Feb. 22, 18S9) on The Enconragement of Higher Educa- 
tion. One of the subjects proposed for the Old South Essays in 1889 was Washi7igto7i's 
Interest ill the Caiise of Education ; consider especially his prof ect of a N'ational Univer- 
sity. The two prize essays upon this subject have been publislied, — that by Miss Caroline C. 
Stecker in a pamphlet, wliich can be procured at the Old South Meeting House; that by 
Miss Julia K. Ordway in the New England Magazi/ie for May, 1S90. 




No. 98. 

Letters of 

Washington and 

Lafayette. 



LAFAYETTE TO WASHINGTON. 

'■'^ Camp, JO December, lyjj. 

" My Dear General : — I went yesterday morning to head- 
quarters, with an intention of speaking to your Excellency, but 
you were too busy, and I shall state in this letter what I wished 
to say. I need not tell you how sorry I am at what has lately 
happened ; it is a necessary result of my tender and respectful 
friendship for you, which is as true and candid as the other 
sentimeats of my heart, and much stronger than so new an 
acquaintance might seem to admit. But another reason for my 
concern is my ardent and perhaps enthusiastic wish for the 
happiness and liberty of this country. I see plainly that 
America can defend herself, if proper measures are taken ; but 
I begin to fear that she may be lost by herself and her own 
sons. 

"When I was in Europe, I thought that here almost every 
man was a lover of liberty, and would rather die free than live a 
slave. You can conceive my astonishment when I saw that 
Toryism was as apparently professed as Whigism itself. There 
are open- dissensions in Congress ; parties who hate one another 
as much as the common enemy ; men who, without knowing 
any thing about war, undertake to judge you, and to make 
ridiculous comparisons. They are infatuated with Gates, with- 
out thinking of the difference of circumstances, and believe that 
attacking is the only thing necessary to conquer. These ideas 
are entertained by some jealous men, and perhaps secret friends 
of the British government, who want to push you, in a moment 
of ill humor, to some rash enterprise UDon the lines, or against 
a n) ich stronger army. 



' i should not take the liberty of mentioning these particu- 
lars to you, ii I had not received a letter from a young, good- 
natured gentleman at Yorktown, whom Conway has ruined by 
his cunning and bad advice, but who entertains the greatest 
respect for you. I have been surprised to see the poor 
establishment of the Board of War, the difference made between 
northern and southern departments, and the orders from. 
Congress about military operations. But the promotion of 
Conway is beyond all my expectations. I should be glad to have 
new major-generals, because, as I know that you take some 
interest in my happiness and reputation, it will perhaps afford 
an occasion for your Excellency to give me more agreeable' 
commands in some instances. On the other hand, General 
Conway says he is entirely a man to be disposed of by me, he 
calls himself my soldier, and the reason of such behaviour 
towards me is, that he wishes to be well spoken of at the French 
Court ; and his protector, the Marquis de Castries, is an intimate 
acquaintance of mine. 

" But since the letter of Lord Stirling, I have inquired into 
his character, and found that he is an ambitious and dangerous 
man. He has done all in his power to draw off my confidence 
and affection from you. His desire was to engage me to leave 
this country. I now see all the general officers of the army 
against Congress. Such disputes, if known to the enemy, may 
be attended with the worst consequences. I am very sorry 
whenever I perceive troubles raised amongst defenders of the 
same cause; but my concern is much greater, when I find 
officers coming from France, officers of some character in my 
country, to whom a fault of that kind may be imputed. The 
reason for my fondness for Conway was his. being a very brave 
and very good officer. However, that talent for manoeuvering, 
which seems so extraordinary to Congress, is not so very 
difficult a matter for any man of common sense, who applies 
himself to it. I must render to General Duportail and some 
other French officers, who have spoken to me, the justice to say, 
that I found them as I could wish upon this occasion, although 
it has made a great noise amongst many in the army, 1 wish 
your Excellency could let them know how necessary you are to 
them, and engage them at the same time to keep peace and 
reinstate love among themselves, till the moment when these 
little disputes shall not be attended with such inconveniences, 
it would be too greac a pity, that slavery, dishonor, ruin, and 
the unhappiness of a whole nation, should issue from trifiai^ 
differences betwixt z. few men. 



•'You will perhaps find this letter very unimportant ; but I 
was desirous of explaining to you some of my ideas, because it 
will contribute to my satisfaction to be convinced, that you, my 
dear General, who have been so indulgent as to permit me to 
look on you as a friend, should know my sentiments. I have 
the warmest love for my country, and for all good Frenchmen. 
Their success fills my heart with joy ; but, Sir, besides that 
Conway is an Irishman, I want countrymen, who in every point 
do honor to their country. That gentleman had engaged me, 
by entertaining my imagination with ideas of glory and shining 
projects, and I must confess this was a too certain way of 
deceiving me. I wish to join to the few theories about war, 
which I possess, and to the few dispositions which nature has 
given me, the experience of thirty campaigns, in the hope that I 
should be able to be more useful in my present sphere. My 
desire of deserving your approbation is strong ; and, whenever 
you shall employ me, you can be certain of my trying every 
exertion in my power to succeed. I am now bound to your 
fate, and I shall follow it and sustain it, as well by my sword as 
by all the means in my power^ You will pardon my importunity. 
Youth and friendship perhaps make me too warm, but I feel the 
greatest concern at recent events. With the most tender and 
profound respect, I have the honor to be, &c." 



WASHINGTON TO LAFAYETTE. 

^"^ Head- Quarters, 2 1 December, I'J'J'J. 
"My Dear Marquis : — Your favor of yesterday conveyed 
to me fresh proof of that friendship and attachment, which I 
have happily experienced since the first of our acquaintance, 
and'for which I entertain sentiments of the purest affection. It 
will ever constitute part of my happiness to know that I stand 
well in your opinion ; because I am satisfied that you can have 
no views to answer by throwing out false colors, and that you 
possess a mind too exalted to condescend to low arts and 
intrigues to acquire a reputation. Happy, thrice happy. Would 
it have been for this army, and the cause we are embarked in, 
if the same generous spirit had pervaded all the actors in it. 
But one gentleman, whose name you have mentioned, had, I am 
confident, far different views. His ambition and great desire of 
being puffed off, as one of the first officers of the age, could 
only be equalled by the means which he used to obtain them ; 



but, finding that I was determined not to go beyond the line of 
my duty to indulge him in the first, nor to exceed the strictest 
rules of propriety to gratify him in the second, he became my 
inveterate enemy ; and he has, I am persuaded, practised every 
art to do me an injury, even at the expense of reprobating a 
measure, which did not succeed, that he himself advised to. 
How far he may have accomplished his ends, I know not; and,^ 
except for considerations of a public nature, I care not; for it 
is well known, that neither ambitious nor lucrative motives led 
me to accept my present appointments; in the discharge of 
which, I have endeavoured to observe one steady and uniform 
system of conduct, which I shall invariably pursue, while I 
have the honor to command, regardless of the tongue of slander 
or the powers of detraction. The fatal tendency of disunion is 
so obvious, that I have in earnest terms exhorted such officers, 
as have expressed their dissatisfaction at General Conway's 
promotion, to be cool and dispassionate in their decision upon 
the matter; and I have hopes that they will not suffer any hasty 
determination to injure the service. At the same time, it must 
be acknowledged, that officers' feelings upon these occasions 
are not to be restrained, although you may control their actions. 
''The other observations contained in your letter have too 
much truth in them ; and it is much to be lamented, that things 
are not now as they formerly were ; but we must not, in so great 
a contest, expect to meet with nothing but sunshine. I have no 
doubt that everything happens for the best, that we shall 
triumph over all our misfortunes, and in the end be happy ; 
when, my dear Marquis, if you will give me your company in 
Virginia, we will laugh at our past difficulties and the folly of 
others; and I will endeavour, by every civility in my power, to 
show you how much and how sincerely I am your affectionate 
and obedient servant." 



LAFAYETTE TO WASHINGTON. 

^' S^. Jean d^ Angely, 12 Jtine, ij^g. 
" My Dear General : — There is at length a safe occasion 
of writing to you, and of assuring you what sincere concern 1 
feel at our separation. I had acquired such a habit of being 
inseparable from you, that I am more and more afflicted at the 
distance, which keeps me so far from my dearest friend, and 
especially at this particular time, as I think the campaign is 
opened, and that you are in the field. I ardently wish I might 



5. 

be near you, know every interesting event, and if possible con- 
tribute to your success and glory. 

"Enclosed is a copy of my letter to Congress, in which you 
will find such intelligence as I was to give them. The Chevalier 
de la Luzerne intends going to Congress by the way of head- 
quarters. I promised that I would introduce him to your 
Excellency, and I have desired him to let you know any piece 
of news, which he has been entrusted with. By what you will 
hear, my dear General, you will see that our affairs take a good 
turn. Besides the favorable dispositions of Spain, Ireland is a 
good deal tired of English oppression. In confidence I would 
tell you, that the scheme of my heart would be to make it as 
free and independent as America. God grant that the sun of 
freedom may at length arise for the happiness of mankind. I 
shall know more about Ireland in a few weeks, and I will 
immediately inform your Excellency. As to Congress, there are 
so many people in it, that one cannot safely unbosom himself, 
as he does to his best friend. After referring you to the 
Chevalier de la Luzerne for what concerns the public news, the 
present situation of affairs, and the designs of our ministry, I 
will only" speak to your Excellency about the great article of 
money. It gave me much trouble, and I so much insisted upon 
it, that the director of finances looks upon me as his evil genius. 
France has incurred great expenses lately. The Spaniards will 
not easily give their dollars. However, Dr. Franklin has got 
some money to pay the bills of Congress, and I hope I shall 
determine the government to greater sacrifices. Serving 
America is to my heart an inexpressible happiness. 

"There is another point upon which you should employ 
all your influence and popularity. For God's sake prevent the 
Congress from disputing loudly together. Nothing so much 
hui-ts the interests and reputation of America, as these intestine 
quarrels. On the other hand, there are two parties in France ; 
Mr. Adams and Mr. Lee on one part; Dr. Franklin and his 
friends on the other. So great is the concern, which these 
divisions give me, that I cannot wait on these gentlemen as 
much as I could wish, for fear of mentioning disputes, and bring- 
ing them to a greater height. 

" I send enclosed a small note for M. Neuville. Give me 
leave to recommend to your Excellency the bearer thereof, our 
new minister plenipotentiary, who seems to me extremely well 
qualified for deserving general esteem and regard. 

" I know you wish to hear something about my private 



affairs. I gave an account of them to Congress, and shall only 
add, that I am here as happy as possible. My family, my 
friends, my countrymen, gave me such a reception, and show 
me every day such an affection, as I could not have hoped. 
For some days I have been in this place, where are the King's 
own regiment of dragoons, which I command, and some, 
regiments of infantry, which are for the present under my 
orders. But what I want, my dear General, and what would 
make me the happiest of men, is to join again the American 
colors, or to put under your orders a division of four or five 
thousand of my countrymen. In case any such cooperation, or 
any private expedition is wished for, I think, if peace is not 
settled this winter, that an early demand might be complied 
with for the next campaign. Our ministers are rather slow in 
their operations, and have a great desire for peace, provided it 
is an honorable one ; so that I think America must show her- 
self in earnest for war, till such conditions are obtained. 
American independence is a certain, an undoubted point; but I 
wish that independence to be acknowledged on advantageous 
terms. On the whole, between ourselves, as to what concerns 
the royal and ministerial good will towards America, I, an 
American citizen, am fully satisfied with it, and I am sure the 
alliance and friendship between both nations will be established 
in such a way as will last for ever. 

" Be so kind as to present my respects to your lady, and 
tell her how happy I should feel to present them myself, and 
at her own house. I have a wife, my dear General, who is in 
love with you, and affection for you seems to me so well justi- 
fied, that I cannot oppose that sentiment in her. She begs you 
will receive her compliments, and make them acceptable to 
Mrs. Washington. I hope you will come to see us in Europe ; 
and most certainly I give you my word, that, if I am not happy 
enough to be sent to America before the peace, I shall by all 
means go there as soon as I can escape. I beg you will present 
my best compliments to your family, and remind them of my 
tender regard for them all ; and also to the general officers, to 
all the officers of the army, and to all the friends I have there. 
I entreat you to let me hear from you. Write to me how you 
do, and how things are going on. The minutest details will be 
interesting to me. Do not forget anything concerning yourself. 
With the highest respect and the most sincere friendship, I 
have the honor to be, &c." 



WASHINGTON TO LAFAYETTE. 

^^IP^est Point, JO September, i^jg. 

"My Dear Marquis : — A few days ago I wrote you a letter 
in much haste. Since tliat, I have been honored witli the 
company of the Chevalier de la Luzerne, and by him was 
favored with your obliging letter of the 12th of June, which 
filled me with equal pleasure and surprise; the latter at hearing 
that you had not received one of the many letters I had written 
to you since you left the American shore. It gave me infinite 
pleasure to hear, from yourself, of the favorable reception you 
met with from your sovereign, and of the joy, which your safe 
arrival in France had diffused among your friends. I had no 
doubt that this would be the case. To hear it from yourself 
adds pleasure to the account; and here, my dear friend, let me 
congratulate you on your new, honorable, and pleasing appoint- 
ment in the army commanded by the Count de Vaux, which I 
shall accompany with an assurance, that none can do it with 
more warmth of affection, or sincere joy, than myself. Your 
forward zeal in the cause of liberty; your singular attachment to 
this infant world; your ardent and persevering efforts, not only 
in Anierica, but since your return to France, to serve the United 
States ; your polite attention to Americans, and your strict and 
uniform friendship for me^ have ripened the first impressions of 
esteem and attachment, which I imbibed for you, into such 
perfect love and gratitude, as neither time nor absence can 
impair. This will warrant my assuring you, that, whether in the 
character of an officer at the head of a corps of gallant French- 
men, if circumstances should require this, whether as a major- 
general commanding a division of the American army^, or 
whether, after our swords and spears have given place to the 
ploughshare and pruning-hook, I see you as a private gentle- 
man, a friend and companion, I shall welcome you with all the 
warmth -of friendship to Columbia's shores; and, in the latter 
case, to my rural cottage, where homely fare and a cordial 
reception shall be substituted for delicacies and costly living. 
This, from past experience, I know you can submit to ; and if 
the lovely partner of your happiness will consent to participate 
with us in such rural entertainment and amusements, I can 
undertake, in behalf of Mrs. Washington, that she will do every 
thing in her power to make Virginia agreeable to the Marchion- 
ess. My inclination and endeavours to do this cannot be 
doubted, when I assure you, that I love every body that is dear 



8 

to you, and consequently participate in the pleasure you feel in 
the prospect of again becoming a parent, and do most sincerely 
congratulate you and your lady on this fresh pledge she is about 
to give you of her love. 

" I thank you for the trouble you have taken and your polite 
attention, in favoring me with a copy of your letter to Congress ; 
and feel, as I am persuaded they must do, the force of such 
ardent zeal as you therein express for the interest of this 
country. The propriety of the hint you have given them must 
carry conviction, and I trust will have a salutary effect ; though 
there is not, I believe, the same occasion for the admonition 
now, that there was several months ago. Many late changes 
have taken place in that honorable body, which have removed 
in a very great degree, if not wholly, the discordant spirit which, 
it is said, prevailed in the winter; and I hope measures will also 
be taken to remove those unhappy and improper differences, 
which have extended themselves elsewhere, to the prejudice of 
our affairs in Europe. 

'' I have had great pleasure in the visit, which the Chevalier 
de la Luzerne and Monsieur Marbois did me the honor to make 
at this camp; concerning both of whom I have imbibed the 
most favorable impressions, and I thank you for the honorable 
mention you made of me to them. The Chevalier, till he had 
announced himself to Congress, did not choose to be received in 
his public character. If he had, except paying him military 
honors, it was not my intention to depart from that plain and 
simple manner of living, which accords with the real interest 
and policy of men struggling under every difficulty for the 
attainment of the most inestimable blessing of life, liberty. 
The Chevalier was polite enough to approve my principle, and 
condescended to appear pleased with our Spartan living. In a 
word, he made us all exceedingly happy by his affability and 
good humor, while he remained in camp. 

• "You are pleased, my dear Marquis, to express an earnest 
desire of seeing me in France, after the establishment of our 
independency, and do me the honor to add, that you are not 
singular ni your request. Let me entreat you to be persuaded, 
that to meet you any where, after the final accomplishment of 
so glorious an event, would contribute to my happiness ; and 
that to visit a country, to whose generous aid we stand so 
much indebted, would be an additional pleasure ; but remember, 
my good friend, that I am unacquainted with your language, 
that I am too far advanced in years to acquire a knowledge of 



9 

it, and that, to converse through the medium of an interpreter 
upon common occasions, especially with the ladies, must appear 
so extremely awkward, insipid, and uncouth, that I can scarcely 
bear it in idea. I will, therefore, hold myself disengaged for 
the present ; but when I see you in Virginia, we will talk of this 
matter and fix our plans. 

"The declaration of Spain, in favor of France has given 
universal joy to every Whig ; while the poor Tory droops, like a 
withering flower under a declining sun. We are anxiously 
expecting to hear of great and important events on your side of 
the Atlantic. At present, the imagination is left in the wide 
field of conjecture. Our eyes one moment are turned to an 
invasion of England, then of Ireland, Minorca, Gibraltar. In a 
word, we hope every thing, but know not what to expect, or 
where to fix. The glorious success of Count d'Estaing in the 
West Indies, at the same time that it adds dominion to France, 
and fresh lustre to her arms, is a source of new and unexpected 
misfortune to our tender a?i(l ge?icrous parent^ and must serve to 
convince her of the folly of quitting the substance in pursuit of 
a shadow ; and, as there is no experience equal to that which is 
bought, I trust she will have a super-abundance of this kind of 
knowledge, and be convinced, as I hope all the world and every 
tyrant in it will be, that the best and only safe road to honor, 
glory, and true dignity, vs> justice. 

" We have such repeated advices of Count d'Estaing's being 
in these seas, that, though I have no olBcial information of the 
event, I cannot help giving entire credit to the report, and looking 
for his arrival every moment, and I am preparing accordingly. 
The enemy at New York also expect it ; and, to guard against 
the consequences, as much as it is in their power to do, are 
repairing and strengthening all the old fortifications, and adding 
neW ones in the vicinity of the city. Their fears, however, do 
not retard an em.barkation, which was making, and generally 
believed^to be for the West Indies or Charleston. It still goes 
forward ; and, by my intelligence, it will consist of a pretty large 
detachment. About fourteen days ago, one British regiment 
(the forty-fourth completed) and three Hessian regiments -were 
embarked, and are gone, as is supposed, to Halifax. The 
operations of the enemy this campaign have been confined to 
the establishment of works of defence, taking a post at King's 
Ferry, and burning the defenceless tow^ns of New Haven, Fair- 
field, and Norwalk, on the Sound within reach of their shipping, 
where little else was or could be opposed to them, than the 



lO 

cries of distressed women and helpless children ; but these were 
offered in vain. Since these notable exploits, they have never 
stepped out of their works or beyond their lines. How a con- 
duct of this kind is to effect the conquest of America, the 
wisdom of a North, a Germain, or a Sandwich best can decide. 
It is too deep and refined for the comprehension of common 
understandings and the general run of politicians. 

*'Mrs. Washington, who set out for Virginia when we took 
the field in June, has often in her letters to me inquired if I had 
heard from you, and will be much pleased at hearing that you 
are well and happy. In her name, as she is not here, I thank 
you for your polite attention to her, and shall speak her sense of 
the honor conferred on her by the Marchioness. When I look 
back to the length of this letter, I have not the courage to give 
it a careful reading for the purpose of correction. You must, 
therefore, receive it with all its imperfections, accompanied with 
this assurance, that, though there may be many inaccuracies in 
the letter, there is not a single defect in the friendship of, my 
dear Marquis, yours, &c." 

WASHINGTON TO LAFAYETTE. 

* ' Head- Quarters, 5 April, 178 j. 

" My Dear Marquis : — It is easier for you to conceive, 
than for me to express, the sensibility of my heart at the com- 
munications in your letter of the 5th of February from Cadiz. 
It is to these communications we are indebted for the only ac- 
count yet received of a general pacification. My mind, upon 
the receipt of this intelligence, was instantly assailed by a 
thousand ideas, all of them contending for preeminence ; but, 
believe me, my dear friend, none could supplant, or ever will 
eradicate that gratitude which has arisen from a lively sense of 
the conduct of your nation, and from my obligations to many of 
its. illustrious characters (of whom, I do not mean to flatter, 
when I place you at the head), and from my admiration of the 
A'irtues of your august sovereign, who, at the same time that he 
stands confessed the father of his own people, and defender of 
American rights, has given the most exalted example of modera- 
tion in treating with his enemies. 

" We are now an independent people, and have yet to learn 
political tactics. We are placed among the nations of the earth, 
and have a character to establish; but how we shall acquit our- 
selves, time must discover. The probability is, (at least I fear 



it), that local or State politics will interfere too much with the 
more liberal and extensive plan of government, which wisdom 
and foresight, freed from the mist of prejudice, would dictate; 
and that we shall be guilty of many blunders in treading this 
boundless theatre, before we shall have arrived at any perfection 
in this art; in a word, that the experience, which is purchased 
at the price of difficulties and distress, will alone convince us, 
that the honor, power, and true interest of this country must be 
measured by a Continental scale, and that every departure 
therefrom weakens the Union, and may ultimately break the 
band which holds us together. To avert these evils, to form a 
new constitution, that will give consistency, stability, and dig- 
nity to the Union, and sufficient powers to the great council of 
the nation for general purposes, is a duty incumbent upon every 
man who wishes well to his country, and will meet with my aid 
as far as it can be rendered in the private walks of life. 

" The armament which was preparing at Cadiz, and in which 
you were to have acted a distinguished part, would have carried 
such conviction with it that it is not to be wondered at that 
Great Britain should have been impressed with the force of 
such reasoning. To this cause, I am persuaded, the peace is 
to be ascribed. Your going to Madrid from thence, instead of 
coming immediately to this country, is another instance, my 
dear Marquis, of your zeal for the American cause, and lays a 
fresh claim to the gratitude of her sons, who will at all times 
receive you with open arms. As no official despatches are yet 
received, either at Philadelphia or New York, concerning the 
completion of the treaty, nor any measures taken for the reduc- 
tion of the army, my detention with it is quite uncertain. 
Where I may be, then, at the time of your intended visit, is too 
uncertain even for conjecture; but nothing can be more true 
than that the pleasure with which I shall receive you will be 
equal to your wishes. I shall be better able to determine then, 
than now, on the practicability of accompanying you to France, 
a country to which I shall ever feel a warm aitection ; and, if I 
do not pay it that tribute of respect, which is to be derived 
from a visit, it may be ascribed with justice to any other cause, 
than a want of inclination, or the pleasure of going there "under 
the auspices of your friendship. 

" I have already observed that the determination of Congress, 
if they have come to any, respecting the army, is yet unknown 
to me. But, as you wish to be informed of every thing that 
concerns it, I do, for your satisfaction, transmit authentic docu- 



ments of some very interesting occurrences, which have hap- 
pened within the last six months. But I ought first to premise, 
that, from accumulated sufferings and little or no prospect of 
relief, the discontents of the officers last fall put on the threat- 
ening appearance of a total resignation, till the business was 
diverted into the channel, which produced the address and peti- 
tion to Congress, which stand first on the file herewith enclosed. « 
I shall make no comment on these proceedings. To one so 
well acquainted with the sufferings of the American army as 
you are, it is unnecessary. It wdll be sufficient to observe, that 
the more its virtue and forbearance are tried, the more resplen- 
dent it appears. My hope is, that the military exit of this valu- 
able class of the community will exhibit such a proof of amor 
patricB, as will do them honor in the page of history. 

"These papers, with my last letter, which was intended to 
go by Colonel Gouvion, containing extensive details of military 
plans, will convey to you every information. If you should get 
sleepy and tired of reading them, recollect, for my exculpation, 
that it is in compliance with your request I have run into such 
prolixity. I made a proper use of the confidential part of your 
letter of the 5th of February. 

" The scheme, my dear Marquis, which you propose as a 
precedent to encourage the emancipation of the black people in 
this country from that state of bondage in which they are held, 
is a striking evidence of the benevolence of your heart. I shall 
be happy to join you in so laudable a work; but will defer going 
into a detail of the business, till I have the pleasure of seeing you. 

"Tilghman is on the point of matrimony with a namesake 
and cousin, sister to Mrs. Carroll of Baltimore. It only remains 
for me now, my dear Marquis, to make a tender of my respect- 
ful compliments, in which Mrs. Washington unites, to Madame 
de Lafayette, and to wish you, her, and your little offspring, all 
the happiness this life can afford. I will extend my compli- 
ments to the gentlemen in your circle, with whom I have the 
honor of an acquaintance. I need not add how happy I shall 
be to see you in America, and more particularly at Mount Ver- 
non, or with what truth and warmth of affection I am, &c." 



WASHINGTON TO LAFAYETTE. 

" Mount Vernon, 8 December, 1784. 

" My Dear Marquis : — The peregrination of the day in 
which I parted from you ended at Marlborough. The next day, 
bad as it was, I got home before dinner. 



"In the moment of our separation, upon the road as I 
travelled, and every hour since, I have felt all that love, respect, 
and attachment for you, with which length of years, close con- 
nexion, and your merits have inspired me. I often asked 
myself, as our carriages separated, whether that was the last 
sight I ever should have of you? And though I wished to say 
No, my fears answered Yes. I called to mind the days of my 
youth, and found they had long since fled to return no more; 
that I was now descending the hill I had been fifty-two years 
climbing, and that, though I was blest with a good constitution, 
I was of a sliort-lived family, and might soon expect to be 
entombed in the mansion of my fathers. These thoughts 
darkened the shades, and gave a gloom to the picture, and con- 
sequently to my prospect of seeing you again. But I will not 
repine ; I have had my day. 

" Nothing of importance has occurred since I parted with 
you. I found my family well, and am now immersed in com- 
pany ; notwithstanding which, I have in haste produced a few 
more letters to give you the trouble of, rather inclining to 
commit them to your care, than to pass them through many and 
unknown hands. 

. -" It is unnecessary, I persuade myself, to repeat to you, my 
dear Marquis, the sincerity of my regards and friendship ; nor 
have I words which could express my affection for you, were I 
to attempt it. My fervent prayers are offered for your safe 
and pleasant passage, happy meeting with Madame de Lafayette 
and family, and the completion of every wish of your heart; in 
all which Mrs. Washington joins me ; as she does in compli- 
ments to Captain Grandecheau, and the Chevalier, of whom 
little Washington often speaks. With every sentiment, which 
is propitious and endearing, I am, &c." 



WASHINGTON TO LAFAYETTE. 

" Philadelphia, 75- August, 1787. 

"My Dear Marquis: — Although the business of the 
federal convention is not yet closed, nor I, thereby, enabled to 
give you an account of its proceedings, yet the opportunity 
afforded by Commodore Paul Jones's return to France is too 
favorable for me to omit informing you, that the present ex- 
pectation of the members is, that \t will end about the first of 
next month, when, or as soon after as it shall be in my power, 
I will communicate the result of our long deliberation to you. 



14 

"Newspaper accounts inform us, that the session of the 
Assembly of Notables is ended; and3'0u have had the goodness, 
in your letter of the 5th of May, to communicate some of the 
proceedings to me ; among which is that of the interesting 
motion made by yourself, respecting the expenditure of public 
money by Monsieur de Calonne, and the consequence thereof. 

" The patriotism, by which this motion was dictated, throws - 
a lustre on the action, which cannot fail to dignify the author; 
and I sincerely hope with you, that much good will result from 
the deliberations of so respectable a council. I am not less 
ardent in my wish, that you may succeed in your plan of tolera- 
tion in religious matters. Being no bigot myself to any mode of 
worship, I am disposed to indulge the professors of Christianity 
in the church with that road to Heaven, which to them shall 
seem the most direct, plainest, easiest, and least liable to 
exception. 

"The politicians of this country hardly know what to make 
of the present situation of European affairs. If serious conse- 
quences do not follow the blood, which has been shed in the 
United Netherlands, these people will certainly have acted 
differently from the rest of mankind ; and, in another quarter, 
one would thiiik there could hardly be so much smoke without 
some fire between the Russians and Turks. Should these dis- 
putes kindle the flame of war, it is not easy to prescribe bounds 
to its extension or effect. The disturbances in Massachusetts 
have subsided, but there are seeds of discontent in every part of 
this Union ; ready to produce other disorders, if the wisdom of 
the present convention should not be able to devise, and the 
good sense of the people be found ready to adopt, a more 
vigorous and energetic government, than the one under which 
we now live ; for the present, from experience, has been found too 
feeble and inadequate to give that security, which our liberties 
and property render absolutely essential, and which the fulfil- 
ment of public faith loudly requires. 

"Vain is it to look for respect from abroad, or tranquillity at 
home ; vain is it to murmur at the detention of our western 
posts, or complain of the restriction of our commerce ; vain are 
all the attempts to remedy the evils complained of by Dr. Dumas, 
to discharge the interest due on foreign loans, or satisfy the 
claims of foreign officers, the neglect of doing which is a high 
impeachment of our national character, and is hurtful to the 
feelings of every well-wisher to this country in and out of it; 
vain is it to talk of chastising the Algerines, or doing ourselves 



justice in any other respect, till the wisdom and force of the 
Union can be more concentrated and better applied. With 
sentiments of the highest respect, and most perfect regard for 
Madame de Lafayette and your family, and with the most affec- 
tionate attachment to you, I am ever yours, &c." 



EXTRACT FROM LETTER OF LAFAYETTE TO 
WASHINGTON. 

" Paris, March f]t/i, lygo. 
" Our revolution is getting on as well as it can with a nation 
that has attained its liberty at once, and is still liable to mistake 
licentiousness for freedom.' The Assembly have more hatred 
to the ancient system, than experience in the proper organiza- 
tion of a new and constitutional government. The ministers 
are lamenting their loss of power, and afraid to use that, which 
they have; and, as every thing has been destroyed, and not 
much of the new building is yet above ground, there is room for 
criticisms and calumnies. To this it may be added, that we still 
are pestered by two parties, the aristocratic, that is panting for 
a counter revolution, and the factious, which aims at the division 
of -the empire and destruction of all authority, and perhaps of 
the lives of the reigning branch; both of which parties are 
fomenting troubles. 

"After I have confessed all this, I will tell you with the 
same candor, that we have made an admirable and almost 
incredible destruction of all abuses and prejudices; that every 
thing not directly useful to, or coming from, the people has been 
levelled ; that, in the topographical, moral, and political situation 
of France, we have made more changes in ten months, than the 
most saguine patriots could have imagined; that our internal 
'troubles and anarchy are much exaggerated; and that, upon the 
whole, this revolution, in which nothing will be wanting but 
energy of government as it was in America, will implant liberty 
and make it flourish throughout the world ; while we must wait 
for a convention in a few years to mend some defects, which are 
not now perceived by men just escaped from aristocracy and 
despotism. 

" Give me leave, my dear General, to present you with a 
picture of the Bastille, just as it looked a few days after I had 
ordered its demolition, with the main key* of the fortress of 



* The key of the Bastille, and the drawing here mentioned, are still pre- 
served in the mansion-house at Mount Vernon. 



i6 

despotism. It is a tribute, which I owe as a son to my adopted 
father, as an aid-de-camp to my general, as a missionary of lib- 
erty to its patriach." 

EXTRACT FROM LETTER OF LAFAYETTE TO 

\vAsriixt;TON. 

" I rejoice and glory in the happy situation of American 
affairs. I bless the restoration of your health, and wish I could 
congratulate you on your side of the Atlantic, but we are not in 
that state of tranquillity which may admit of my absence; the 
refugees hovering about the frontiers, intrigues in most of the 
despotic and aristocratic cabinets, our regular army divided into 
Tory otiicers and undisciplined soldiers, licentiousness among 
the people not easily repressed, the capital, that gives the tone 
to the empire, tossed about by anti-revolutionary or factious 
parties, the Assembly fatigued by hard labor, and very unman- 
ageable. However, according to the popular motto, Ca ira, ' It 
will do.' We are introducing as fast as we can religious liberty. 
The Assembly has put an end to its existence by a new convo- 
cation ; has unfitted its own members for immediate reelection 
and for places in the executive ; and is now reducing the consti- 
tution to a few principal articles, leaving the legislative assem- 
blies to examine and mend the others, and preparing every thing 
for a convention as soon as our machine shall have had a fair 
trial. As to the surrounding governments, they hate our revolu- 
tion, but do not know how to meddle with it, so afraid are they 
of catch ifig the plague. 

LAFAVEITE TO WASHINGTON. 

'^ Paris, I J March, ryg2. 

'' Mv Dear General : — I have been called from the army 
to this capital for a conference between the two other generals, 
the ministers, and myself, and am about returning to my military 
post. The coalition between the continental powers respect- 
ing our affairs is certain, and will not be broken by the Emper- 
or's death. But, although warlike preparations are going on, it 
is very doubtful whether our neighbours will attempt to stifle so 
very catching a thing as liberty. 

" The danger for us lies in our state of anarchy, owing to the 
ignorance of the people, the number of non-proprietors, the 



jealousy of every governing measure, all which inconveniences 
are worked up by designing men, or aristocrats in disguise, but 
both extremely tend to defeat our ideas of public order. Do 
not believe, however, the exaggerated accounts you may receive, 
particularly from England. That liberty and equality will be 
preserved in France, there is no doubt; in case there were, you 
well know that I would not, if ihey fall, survive them. But you 
may be assured, that we shall emerge from this unpleasant 
situation, either by an honorable defence, or by internal 
improvements. How far this constitution of ours insures a good 
government has not been as yet fairly experienced. This only 
we know, that it has restored to the people their rights, destroyed 
almost every abuse, and turned French vassalage and slavery 
into national dignity, and the enjoyment of those faculties, which 
nature has given and society ought to insure. 

" Give me leave to you alone to offer an observation respect- 
ing the late choice of the American ambassador. You know I 
am personally a friend to Gouverneur Morris, and ever as a 
private man have been satisfied with him. But the aristocratic, 
and indeed counter-revolutionary principles he has professed, 
unfitted him to be the representative of the only nation, whose 
politics have a likeness to ours, since they are founded on the 
plan of a representative democracy. This I may add, that, 
surrounded with enemies as France is, it looks as if America 
was preparing for a change in this government ; not only that 
kind of alteration, which the democrats may wish for and bring 
about, but the wild attempts of aristocracy, such as the restora- 
tion of a noblesse, a House of Lords, and such other political 
blemishes, which, while we live, cannot be reestablished in 
France. I wish we had an elective Senate, a more independent 
set of judges, and a more energetic administration ; but the 
people must be taught the advantages of a firm government 
before they reconcile it to their ideas of freedom, and can dis- 
tinguish it from the arbitrary systems, which they have just got 
over. You see, my dear General, I am not an enthusiast for 
every part of our constitution, although I love its principles, 
which are the same as those of the United States, except the 
hereditary character of the president of the executive, which I 
think suitable to our circumstances. But I hate every thing 
like despotism and aristocracy, and I cannot help wishing the 
American and French principles were in the heart and on the 
lips of the American ambassador in France. This I mention to 
you alone. 



iS 

" There have been changes in the ministry. The King has 
chosen his council from the most violent popular party in the 
Jacobin club, a Jesuitic institution, more fit to make deserters 
from our cause than converts to it. The new ministers, how- 
ever, being unsuspected, have a chance to restore public order, 
and say they will improve it. The Assembly are wild, unin- 
formed, and too fond of popular applause : the King, slow and 
rather backward in his daily conduct, although now and then he 
acts full well : but upon the whole it will do. and the success of 
our revolution cannot be questioned. 

" My command extends on the frontiers from Givet to Bitche. 
I have sixty thousand men. a number that is increasing now, as 
young men pour in from every part of the empire to fill up the 
regiments. This voluntary recruiting shows a most patriotic 
spirit. I am going to encamp thirty thousand men, with a 
detached corps, in an intrenched camp. The remainder will 
occupy the fortified places. The armies of Mare'chals Luckner 
and Rochambeau are inferior to mine, because we have sent 
many regiments to the southward : but. in case we have a war to 
undertake, we may gather respectable forces. 

*• Our emigrants are beginning to come in. Their situation 
abroad is miserable, and, in case even we quarrel with our 
neighbours, they will be out of the question. Our paper monev 
has been of late rising very fast. Manufactures of every kind 
are much employed. The farmer finds his cares alleviated, and 
will feel the more happy under our constitution, as the Assembly 
are going to give up their patronage of one set of priests. You 
see, that, although we have many causes to be as yet unsatisfied, 
we may hope every thing will by and by come right. Licentious- 
ness, under the mask of patriotism, is our greatest evil, as it 
threatens property, tranquillity, and liberty itself. Adieu, my 
dear General. My best respects wait on Mrs. Washington. 
Remember me most affectionately to our friends, and think 
sometimes of your respectful, loving, and filial friend. 

Lafavette." 

^yASHIXGTOX TO LAFAYETTE. 

•* Mount Vernon, 2j Dccenihr, jygS. 

" My de-\r Sir : — Convinced as you must be of the fact, 
it would be a mere waste of time to assure you of the sincere 
and heartfelt pleasure I derived from finding by your letters 
that you had not only regained your liberty, but were in the 



1.9 

enjoyment of better health than could have been expected from 
your long and rigorous confinement, and that Madame de 
Lafayette and the young ladies were able to survive it at all. , . 

" It is equally unnecessary for me to apologize to you for 
my long silence, when by a recurrence to your own letters you 
will find my excuse ; for by these it will appear that, if you 
had embarked for this country at the times mentioned therein, 
no letters of mine could have arrived in Europe before your 
departure. By your favor of the 20th of August I was in- 
formed that your voyage to America was postponed, for the 
reasons there given, which conveyed the first idea to my mind 
that a letter from me might find you in Europe. 

" The letter last mentioned, together with that of the 5th 
of September, found me in Philadelphia, M^hither I had gone for 
the purpose of making some military arrangements with the 
Secretary of War, and where every moment of my time was so 
much occupied in that business as to allow no leisure to attend 
to anything else. 

" I have been thus circumstantial in order to impress you 
with the true cause of my silence, and to satisfy your mind, if 
a .doubt had arisen there, that my friendship for you had 
undergone no diminution or change ; and that no one in the 
United States would receive you with more open arms or 
ardent affection than I should, after the differences between 
this country and France are adjusted and harmony between 
the nations is again restored. . . . 

" To give you a complete view of the politics and situation 
of things in this country would far exceed the limits of a letter, 
and to trace effects to their causes would be a work of time. 
But the sum of them may be given in a few words, and it 
amounts to this. That a party exists in the United States, 
formed by a combination of causes, which oppose the govern- 
ment in all its measures, and are determined, as all their con- 
duct evinces, by clogging its wheels, indirectly to change the 
nature of it and to subvert the constitution. To effect this, no 
means which have a tendency to accomplish their purposes are 
left unessayed. The friends of government, who are anxious 
to maintain its neutrality and to preserve the country in peace, 
and adopt measures to secure these objects, are charged by 
them as being monarchists, aristocrats, and infractors of the 
constitution, which, according to their interpretation of it, 
would be a mere cipher. They arrogated to themselves (until 



20 

the eyes of the people began to discover how outrageously they 
had been treated in their commercial concerns by the Directory 
of France, and that that was a ground on which they could no 
longer tread) the sole merit of being the friends of France, 
when, in fact, they had no more regard for that nation than for 
the Grand Turk, further than their own views were promoted 
by it, denouncing those who differed in opinion (whose princi- 
ples are purely American, and whose sole view was to observe 
a strict neutrality) as acting under British influence, and being 
directed by her counsels or as being her pensioners. . . . 

" You have expressed a wish, worthy of the benevolence 
of your heart, that I would exert all my endeavors to avert the 
calamitous effects of a rupture between our countries. BeHeve 
me, my dear friend, that no man can deprecate an event of this 
sort with more horror than I should, and. that no one during 
the whole of my administration labored more incessantly and 
with more sincerity and zeal than I did to avoid this, and to 
render all justice — nay, favor — to France consistent with the 
neutrality, which had been proclaimed, sanctioned by Congress, 
approved by the State legislatures, and by the people at large 
in their town and county -meetings. But neutrality w^as not the 
point at which France was aiming ; for, whilst they were crying, 
Teace, Peace, and pretending that they did not wish us to be 
embroiled in their quarrel with Great Britain, they were pursu- 
ing measures in this country so repugnant to its sovereignty 
and so incompatible with every principle of neutrality as must 
inevitably have produced a war with the latter. And, when 
they found that the government here was resolved to adhere 
steadily to its plan of neutrality, their next step was to destroy 
the confidence of the people in it and to separate them from it, 
for which purpose their diplomatic agents were specially in- 
structed, and, in the attempt, were aided by inimical characters 
among ourselves, not, as 1 observed before, because they loved 
France more than any other nation, but because it was an 
instrument to facilitate the destruction of their own govern- 
ment. 

" Hence proceeded those charges — which I have already 
enumerated — against the friends to peace and order. No 
doubt remains on this side of the water that to the representa- 
tions of and encouragement given by these people is to be 
ascribed in a great measure the infractions of our treaty with 
France, her violation of the laws of nations, disregard of 



21 

justice, and even of sound policy. But herein they have not 
only deceived France, but were deceived themselves, as the 
event has proved ; for, no sooner did the yeomanry of this 
country come to a right understanding of the nature of the dis- 
pute, than they rose as one man with a tender of their services, 
their lives, and their fortunes, to support the government of 
their choice and to defend their country. This has produced 
a declaration from them (how sincere, let others judge) that, if 
the French should attempt to invade this country, they them- 
selves would be amongst the foremost to repel the attack. 

" You add in another place that the Executive Directory 
are disposed to an accommodation of all differences. If they 
are sincere in this declaration, let them evidence it by actions ; 
for words unaccompanied therewith will not be much regarded 
now. I would pledge myself that the government and people 
of the United States will meet them heart and hand at a fair 
negotiation, having no wish more ardent than to live in peace 
with all the world, provided they are suffered to remain undis- 
turbed in their just rights. Of this their patience, forbearance, 
and repeated solicitations under accumulated injuries and 
insults are incontestable proofs. But it is not to be inferred 
from hence that they will suffer any nation under the sun, 
while they retain a proper sense of virtue and independence, 
to trample upon their rights with impunity, or to direct or 
influence the internal concerns of their country. 

" It has been the policy of France, and that of the opposi- 
tion party among ourselves, to inculcate a belief that all those 
who have exerted themselves to keep this country in peace did 
it from an overweening attachment to Great Britain. But it is 
a solemn truth, and you may count upon it, that it is void of 
foundation, and propagated for no other purpose than to excite 
popular clamor against those whose aim was peace, and whom 
they wished out of their way. 

"That there are many among us who wish to see this 
country embroiled on the side of Great Britain, and others who 
are anxious that we should take part with France against her, 
admits of no doubt. But it is a fact on which you may entirely 
rely that the governing powers of the country and a large part 
of the people are truly Americans in principle, attached to the 
interest of it, and unwilling under any circumstances whatso- 
ever to participate in the politics or contests of Europe. — 
much less since they have found that France, having forsaken 



22 

the ground first taken, is interfering in the internal concerns of 
all nations, neutral as well as belligerent, and setting the world 
in an uproar. 

*' After my Valedictory Address to the people of the 
United States, you would no doubt be somewhat surprised to 
hear that I had again consented to gird on the sword. But,, 
having struggled eight or nine years against the invasion of 
our rights by one power, and to establish our independence of 
it, I could not remain an unconcerned spectator of the attempt 
of another power to accomplish the same object, though in a 
different way, with less pretensions ; indeed, without any at all. 

"On the politics of Europe I shall express no opinion, nor 
make any inquiry who is right or who is wrong. I wish well 
to all nations and to all men. My politics are plain and simple. 
I think every nation has a right to establish that form of gov- 
ernment under which it conceives it may live most happy, pro- 
vided it infracts no right or is not dangerous to others ; and 
that no governments ought to interfere with the internal con- 
cerns of another except for the security of what is due to 
themselves. 

" I sincerely hope that Madame de Lafayette will accom- 
plish all her wishes in France, and return safe to you with 
renovated health. I congratulate you on the marriage of your 
eldest daughter, and beg to be presented to her and her sister 
Virginia, — to the latter in the most respectful and affectionate 
terms. To George I have written. In all these things Mrs. 
\\'ashington, as the rest of the family would do, were they at 
home, most cordially joins me, as she does in wishing you and 
them every felicity which this life can afford as some consola- 
tion for your long, cruel, and painful confinement and suf- 
ferings. 



Lafayette was but eighteen years old in 1776, when he conceived the 
idea of coming to America to espouse the cause of the Colonies against 
Great Britain. The account of the dinner at Metz, where his interest and 
sympathy were first aroused by the conversation of the P>ench and EngUsh 
officers, is famihar to all readers of the life of Lafayette ; and all will re- 
member his interview with Silas Deane in Paris and the many obstacles 
which he encountered previous to his secret sailing from Passage, in the 
spring of 1777, with Baron de Kalb and others, in the ship provided at his 
own expense. He landed near Georgetown in South Carolina, and was 
conveyed directly to Charleston. His interesting letter to his wife, written 
from Charleston, 19 June, 1777, giving his first impressions of America, 
should be read : it may be found in his Memoirs, i. 92. The party imme- 



diately proceeded from Charleston to Philadelphia, and it was here that 
Lafayette first met Washington, who was warmly drawn to the gallant 
young man from the first, and soon became his devoted friend. The story 
of that friendship, a friendship enduring, as warm on the one side as on the 
other, until Washington's death, is a part of history. The letters here 
given are not only expressions of that friendship, but interesting chapters 
out of the great history which Washington and Lafayette helped to make 
in America and in France. These letters are but a very few out of very 
many that passed between the two great men, all of which are worthy of 
careful attention. More than a hundred of these letters are given in the 
three volumes of Lafayette's Memoirs, and they constitute by far the most 
interesting and important portion of the correspondence there given. Many 
of the same letters, as well as others, are given in Washington's Writings, 
both Sparks's and Ford's editions. 

The first letters belong to the trying time of Conway's Cabal, and 
show the complete confidence which Washington and Lafayette reposed in 
each other. It was a few months after the date of these letters that La- 
fayette wrote to Baron Steuben : — 

" Permit me to express my satisfaction at your having seen General 
Washington. No enemies to that great man can be found, except among 
the enemies to his country ; nor is it possible for any man of a noble spirit 
to refrain from loving the excellent qualities of his heart. I think I know 
him as well as any person, and such is the idea which I have formed of him. 
His honesty, his frankness, his sensibility, his virtue, to the full extent in 
which this word can be understood, are above all praise. It is not for me 
to judge of his military talents; but, according to my imperfect knowledge 
of these matters, his advice in council has always appeared to me the best, 
although his modesty prevents him sometimes from sustaining it ; and his 
predictions have generally been fulfilled." 

In a letter to Lafayette, 25 September, 177S, on the eve of his first 
return to France, Washington writes : — 

" The sentiments of affection and attachment, which breathe so con- 
spicuously in all your letters to me, are at once pleasing and honorable, and 
afford me abundant cause to rejoice at the happiness of my acquaintance 
with you. Your love of liberty, the just sense you entertain of this valuable 
blessing, and your noble and disinterested exertions in the cause of it, added 
to the innate goodness of your heart, conspire to render you dear to me; 
and I think myself happy in being linked with you in bonds of the strictest 
friendship. The ardent zeal which you have displayed during the whole 
course of the campaign to the eastward, and your endeavors to cherish 
harmony, among the ofiicers of the allied powers, and to dispel those unfa- 
vorable impressions which had begun to take place in the minds of the 
unthinking, from misfortunes which the utmost stretch of human foresight 
could not avert, deserves, and now receives, my particular and warmest 
thanks." 

To Frankhn, then in Paris, Washington immediately afterwards wrote 
of Lafayette as follows : — 

" The generous motives which first induced him to cross the Atlantic ; 
the tribute which he paid to gallantry at the Brandywine ; his success in 
Jersey before he had recovered from his wounds, in an affair where he com- 
manded militia against British grenadiers; the brilliant retreat, by which he 
eluded a combined manoeuvre of the whole British force in the last cam- 



24 

paign ; his services in the enterprise against Rhode Island, — are such 
proofs of his zeal, military ardor, and talents, as have endeared him to 
America, and must greatly recommend him to his Prince. Coming with so 
many titles to claim your esteem, it were needless, for any other purpose 
than to indulge my own feelings, to add that I have a very particular 
friendship for him, and that whatever services you may have it in your 
power to render him will confer an obligation on me." 

The letter from Lafayette in France, 12 June, 1779, here given, and. 
Washington's reply, 30 Sept., 1779, afford pleasant glimpses into the 
domestic lives of the two men, as well as valuable comments upon the 
political situation. Lafayette came back to America and rendered valuable 
service down to the practical termination of the war by the capture of Corn- 
wallis in 17S1. Returning to France, Washington's letter of 5 April, 1783, 
shows that it was from him that Washington first had the news of the 
treaty of peace. This letter is also interesting as revealing, a scheme of 
Lafayette's for the emancipation of the negroes in America. In 1784 
Lafayette came to America again, visiting Washington at Mt. Vernon. 
The fond and sad letter from Washington, 8 December, 1784, here given, 
was written just as Lafayette was returning to France. Washington's fore- 
boding that he would never again see Lafayette proved true. Lafayette 
gives a full account of his part in the American Revolution in his Memoirs; 
and the most important part of this account is given in Old South Leaflet 
No. 97. 

Washington's letter of August 15, 1787, belongs to the time of the 
Constitutional Convention. The letters of April 28, 1788 (Washington's 
Writings, ix. 354), and June 18, 1788 (do., ix. 379), which followed, should 
be read for their valuable political passages. Lafayette's letter of March 
17, 1790, here given, shows him in the midst of the exciting events of the 
French Revolution. Washington's answer to this may be found in Sparks's 
edition of his Writings, x. 105. Washington's last letter to Lafayette be- 
fore the latter's imprisonment was dated Sept. 10, 1791. It concludes: — 

" I cannot help looking forward with an anxious wish, and a lively hope, 
to the time when peace and tranquillity will reign in your borders, under 
the sanction of a respectable government, founded on the broad basis of 
liberality and the rights of man. It must be so. The great Ruler of 
events will not permit the happiness of so many millions to be destroyed." 

Lafayette's last letter to Washington before his imprisonment was 
dated Paris, 15 March, 1792, and is included in the present leaflet. It is of 
the highest value for its observations upon the course of the French Revolu- 
tion at that time, when events were rapidly hastening on toward the Reign 
of Tfirror. Washington's efforts for Lafayette's release appear from the 
correspondence in Sparks, vol. x. ; and his last letters to Lafayette are given 
in vol. xi. That of October 8, 1797, congratulates Lafayette on his restora- 
tion to liberty, and speaks of his own retirement from public life. 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE DIRECTORS OF THE OLD SOUTH WORK, 
Old South Meeting-house, Boston, Mass. 




(©lb ^outft aicaflct^ 



No. 4- 



Washington's 
Farewell Address 



TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED 
STATES. 

Friends and Fellow-Citizens : 

The period for a new election of a citizen, to administer the 
executive government of the United States, being not far distant, 
and the time actually arrived, when your thoughts must be em- 
ployed in designating the person, who is to be clothed with that 
important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may 
conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I 
should now apprize you of the resolution I have formed, to de- 
cline being considered among the number of those, out of whom 
a choice is to be made. 

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be 
assured-, that this resolution has not been taken without a strict 
regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation, 
which binds a dutiful citizen to his country ; and that, in with- 
drawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation 
might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your 
future interest ; no deficiency of grateful respect for your past 
kindness ; but am supported by a full conviction that the step 
is compatible with both. 

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the oflice 
to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uni- 
form sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a 
deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly 
hoped, that it would have been much earlier in my power, con- 
sistently with motives, which I was not at liberty to disregard, 
to return to that retirement, from which I had been reluctantly 
drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to 
the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address 
to declare it to you ; but mature reflection on the then perplexed 
and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the 
unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled 
me to abandon the idea. 



I rejoice, that the state of your concerns, external as well 
as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incom- 
patible with the sentiment of duty, or propriety ; and am per- 
suaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, 
that, in the present circumstances of our country, you will not 
disapprove my determination to retire. 

The impressions, with which I first undertook the arduou*s 
trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge 
of this trust, I will only say, that I have, with good intentions, 
contributed towards the organization and administration of the 
government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment 
was capable. Not unconscious, in the outset, of the inferiority 
of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still 
more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffi- 
dence of myself ; and every day the increasing weight of years 
admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is 
as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied, that, if any 
circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they 
were temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that, while 
choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, pat- 
riotism does not forbid it. 

In looking forward to the moment, which is intended to 
terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit 
me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of grati- 
tude, which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors 
it has conferred upon me ; still more for the steadfast confi- 
dence with which it has supported me ; and for the opportunities 
I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, 
by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness un- 
equal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from 
these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and 
as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances 
in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to 
mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of 
fortune often discouraging, in situations in which not unfre- 
quently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, 
the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the 
efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were effected. 
Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to 
my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that Heaven 
may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence ; that 
your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual ; that the 
free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be 
sacredly maintained ; that its administration in every depart- 



ment may be stamped with wisdom and virtue ; that, in fine, the 
happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of 
liberty, may be made complete, by so careful a preservation and 
so prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the 
glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and 
adoption of every nation, which is yet a stranger to it. 

Here, perhaps, 1 ought to stop. But a solicitude for your 
welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehen- 
sion of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occa- 
sion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and 
to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments, which 
are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observa- 
tion, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency 
of your felicity as a People. These will be offered to^ you with 
the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested 
warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal 
motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encourage- 
ment to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a 
former and not dissimilar occasion. 

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of 
your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify 
or confirm the attachment. 

The unity of Government, which constitutes you one peo- 
ple, is also now dear to you. It is justly so : for it is a main 
pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of 
your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad ; of your safety ; 
of your prosperity ; of that very Liberty, which you so highly 
prize. But as it' is easy to forsee, that, from different causes 
and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many 
artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of 
this truth ; as this is the point in your political fortress against 
which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be 
most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidi- 
ously) -directed, it is of infinite moment, that you should properly 
estimate the immense value of your national Union to your col- 
lective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a 
cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming 
yourselves to think and speak of it as of the Palladium of your 
political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation 
with jealous anxiety ; discountenancing whatever may suggest 
even a suspicion, that it can in any event be abandoned; and 
indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to 
alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble 
the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. 



For this you have every inducement of sympathy and in- 
terest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that 
country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name 
of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, 
must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any 
appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight 
shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners,' 
habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause 
fought and triumphed together ; the Independence and Liberty 
you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts, of 
common dangers, sufferings, and successes. 

But these considerations, however powerfully they address 
themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those, 
which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every 
portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for 
carefully guarding and preserving the Union of the whole. 

The North, in an unrestrained, intercourse with the South, 
protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds, in 
the productions of the latter, great additional resources of mari- 
time and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manu- 
facturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, bene- 
fiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and 
its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels 
the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation invig- 
orated; and, while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish 
and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it 
looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength, to which 
itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse 
with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement 
of interior communications by land and water, will more and 
more find, a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings 
from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from 
the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what 
is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe 
the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own produc- 
tions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength 
of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble 
community of interest as one ?iatio?i. Any other tenure by which 
the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived 
from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and un- 
natural connexion with any foreign power, must be intrinsically 
precarious. 

While, then, every part of our country thus feels an imme- 
diate and particular interest in Union, all the parts combined 



cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts 
greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater secur- 
ity from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their 
peace by foreign nations ; and, what is of inestimable value, 
they must derive from Union an exemption from those broils 
and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neigh- 
bouring countries not tied together by the same governments, 
which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, 
but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues 
would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid 
the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which, 
under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and 
which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican 
Liberty. In this sense it is, that your Union ought to be con- 
sidered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the 
one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every 
reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the 
Union as a primary object of Patriotic desire. Is there a doubt, 
whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere ? 
Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such 
a ease were criminal. We are authorized to hope, that a proper 
organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of govern- 
ments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue 
to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. 
With such powerful and obvious motives to Union, affecting all 
parts of our country, while experience shall not have demon- 
stated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust 
the patriotism of those, who in any quarter may endeavour to 
weaken its bands. 

In contemplating the causes, which may disturb our Union, 
it occurs as matter of serious concern, that any ground should 
have been furnished for characterizing parties by Geographical 
discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western ; 
whence designing men may endeavour to excite a belief, that 
there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of 
the expedients of party to acquire influence, within particular 
districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other dis- 
tricts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jeal- 
ousies and heart-burnings, which spring from these misrepresen- 
tations ; they tend to render alien to each other those, who 
ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabit- 
ants of our western country have lately had a useful lesson on 
this head ; they have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, 



and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty 
with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event, 
throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded 
were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the 
General Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to 
their interests in regard to the Mississippi ; they have been wit- 
nesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great Britain, 
and that with Spain, which secure to them every thing they 
could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards con- 
firming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for 
the preservation of these advantages on the Union by which 
they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those 
advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their 
brethren, and connect them with aliens ? 

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Govern- 
ment for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however 
strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute ; they 
must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions, 
which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of 
this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, 
by the adoption of a Constitution of Government better calcu- 
lated than your former for an intimate Union, and for the effi- 
cacious management of your common concerns. This Govern- 
ment, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, 
adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, com- 
pletely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, 
uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a 
provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your con- 
fidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance 
with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are dutifes enjoined 
by the fundamental maxims of true Liberty. The basis of our 
political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter 
their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which 
at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act 
of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very 
idea of the power and the right of the people to establish Gov- 
ernment presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the 
established Government. 

All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combina- 
tions and associations, under whatever plausible character, with 
the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular 
deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are de- 
structive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. 
They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and ex- 



7 

traordinary force ; to put, in the place of the delegated will of 
the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enter- 
prising minority of the community ; and, according to the alter- 
nate triumphs of different parties, to make the public adminis- 
tration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects 
of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome 
plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual 
interests. 

However combinations or associations of the above descrip- 
tions may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in 
the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by 
which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled 
to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves 
the reins of government ; destroying afterwards the very engines, 
which have lifted them to unjust dominion. 

Towards the preservation of your government, and the per- 
manency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only 
that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its 
acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the 
spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the 
pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms 
of the" constitution, alterations, which will impair the energy of 
the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly 
overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, 
remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the 
true character of governments, as of other human institutions ; that 
experience is the surest standard, by which to test the real ten- 
dency of the existing constitution of a country; that facility in 
changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, ex- 
poses to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis 
and opinion; and remember, especially, that, for the efficient 
management of your common interests, in a countr}^ so extensive 
as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the 
perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will 
find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and 
adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a 
name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the 
enterprise of faction, to confine each member of the society 
within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in 
the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and 
property. 

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the 
state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geo- 
graphical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehen- 



8 

sive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the 
baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally. 

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, 
having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It 
exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less 
stifled, controlled, or repressed ; but, in those of the popular 
form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their' 
worst enemy. 

The alternate domination of one faction over another, 
sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, 
which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most 
horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads 
at length to a more formal and permanent despotism^ The dis- 
orders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds 
of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an 
individual ; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing 
faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns 
this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the 
ruins of Public Liberty. 

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which 
nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the common 
and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to 
make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage 
and restrain it. 

It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfee- 
ble the Public Administration. It agitates the Community with 
ill-founded jealousies and false alarms ; kindles the animosity 
of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and in- 
surrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corrup- 
tion, which find a facilitated access to the government itself 
through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and 
the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of 
another. 

There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are useful 
checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve 
to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is 
probably true ; and in Governments of a Monarchical cast. Pat- 
riotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the 
spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in Gov- 
ernments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. 
From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be 
enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there 
being constant danger of excess,, the effort ought to be, by force 
of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be 



quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its burst- 
ing into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. 

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a 
free country should inspire caution, in those intrusted with its 
administration, to confine themselves within their respective 
constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of 
■one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of en- 
croachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the depart- 
ments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of govern- 
ment, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, 
and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human 
heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The 
necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, 
by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and 
constituting each the Guardian of the Public Weal against in- 
vasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient 
and modern ; some of them in our country and under our own 
•eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute 
them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modi- 
fication of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, 
let it be corrected by an amendment in the way, which the con- 
stitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; 
for, though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of 
good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are 
destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in 
permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use 
can at any time yield. 

Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political 
prosperity. Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. 
In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who 
should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, 
these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The 
mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect 
and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their con- 
nexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked. 
Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the 
sense of religious oi3ligation desert the oaths, which are the in- 
struments of investigation in Courts of Justice ? And let us 
with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be main- 
tained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the 
influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, 
reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national 
morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. 

It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a neces- 



lO 

sary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends 
with more or less force to every species of free government. 
Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference 
upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric ? 

Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institu- 
tions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as 
the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is" 
essential that public opinion should be enlightened. 

As a very important source of strength and security, cherish 
public credit. One method of preserving it is, to use it as 
sparingly as possible ; avoiding occasions of expense by culti- 
vating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements 
to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disburse- 
ments to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, 
not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous ex- 
ertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoid- 
able wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon 
posterity the burthen, which we ourselves ought to bear. The 
execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but 
it is necessary that public opinion should cooperate. To facili- 
tate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that 
you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment 
of debts there must be Revenue; that to have Revenue there 
must be taxes ; that no taxes can be devised, which are not 
more or less inconvenient and unpleasant, that the intrinsic 
embarrassment, inseparable from the selection of the proper 
objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be a 
decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the 
government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the 
measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies 
may at any time dictate. 

Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations ; culti- 
vate peace and harmony with all. Religion and Morality enjoin 
this conduct ; and can it be, that good policy does not equally 
enjoin it ? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no 
distant period, a great Nation, to give to mankind the magnani- 
mous and too novel example of a people always guided by an 
exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt, that, in the 
course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly 
repay any temporary advantages, which might be lost by a 
steady adherence to it? Can it be, that Providence has not 
connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its Virtue ? 
The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment 
which ennobles human nature. Alas ! is it rendered impossible 
by its vices ? 



II 

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential,- 
than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular 
Nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be ex- 
cluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings, 
towards all should be cultivated. The Nation, which indulges 
towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is. 
in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its 
affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its 
duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another 
disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold 
of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, 
when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence 
frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. 
The Nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes 
impels to war the Government, contrary to the best calculations 
of policy. The Government sometimes participates in the 
national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason 
would reject ; at other times, it makes the animosity of the na- 
tion subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, am- 
bition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace 
often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of Nations has been the 
victim. 

So likewise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for 
another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite 
Nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, 
in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into 
one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a partici- 
pation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate 
inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the 
favorite Nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt 
doubly to injure the Nation making the concessions ; by unnec- 
essarily parting with what ought to have been retained ; and by 
exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the 
parties, from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives 
to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens, (who devote them- 
selves to the favorite nation,) facility to betray or sacrifice the 
interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even 
with popularity ; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous 
sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, 
or a laudable zeal for public good, the base of foolish compli- 
ances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. 

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such 
attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened 
and independent Patriot. How many opportunities do they 
afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practise the arts of 



12 

seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the 
Public Councils ! Such an attachment of a small or weak, 
towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be 
the satellite of the latter. 

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure 
you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people 
■ought to be constantly awake ; since history and experience" 
prove, that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of 
Republican Government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must 
be impartial ; else it becomes the instrument of the very influ- 
■ence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive 
partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike of another, 
•cause those whom they actuate to see danger only On one side, 
and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the 
■other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favor- 
ite, are liable to become suspected and odious ; while its tools 
and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to 
surrender their interests. 

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign na- 
tions, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with 
them as little /^Z?'//V^/ connexion as possible. So far as we have 
already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect 
.^ood faith. Here let us stop, 

Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have 
none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged 
in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially 
foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise 
in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary 
vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and 
■collisions of her friendships or enmities. 

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us 
to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under 
an efficient government, the period is not far off, when we may 
defy, material injury from external annoyance ; when we may 
take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality, we may at any 
time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected ; when belliger- 
ent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon 
us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation ; when we 
may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, 
shall counsel. 

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation ? \\\\\ 
quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, by inter- 
weaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle 
t)ur peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, 
rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice ? 



13 

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances 
with any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as we are 
now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable 
of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the 
maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that 
honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let 
those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in 
my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend 
them. 

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establish- 
ments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust 
to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. 

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recom- 
mended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our com- 
mercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand ; neither 
seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences ; consult- 
ing the natural course of things ; diffusing and diversifying by 
gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; 
establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a 
stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to en- 
able the government to support them, conventional rules of 
intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual 
opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time 
to time abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances 
shall dictate ; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one 
nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it 
must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may 
accept under that character ; that, by such acceptance, it may 
place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for 
nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude 
for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to ex- 
pect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is 
an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride 
ought -to discard. 

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an 
old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the 
strong and lasting impression I could wish ; that they will con- 
trol the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation 
from running the course, which has hitherto marked the destiny 
of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself, that they may be 
productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good ; that 
they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party 
spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard 
against the impostures of pretended patriotism ; this hope will 



14 

'be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by 
•which they have been dictated. 

How far in the discharge of my official duties, I have been 
guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public 
records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you 
and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own con- 
:science is, that I have at least believed myself to be' guided by' 
•them. 

In relating to the still subsisting war in Europe, my Proc- 
lamation of the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my Plan. 
•Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your Rep- 
resentatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit of that 
measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any at- 
tempts to deter or divert me from it. 

After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights 
I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all 
the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was 
bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having 
taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to 
maintain it, with moderation, perseverance, and firmness. 

The considerations, which respect the right to hold this 
■conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will 
only observe, that, according to my understanding of the matter, 
that right, so far from being denied by any of the Belligerent 
Powers, has been virtually admitted by 'all. ' 

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, 
without any thing more, from the obligation w^hich justice and 
humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to 
act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity 
towards other nations. 

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will 
best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With 
me, a predominant motive has been to endeavour to gain time 
to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, 
and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength 
and consistency, which is necessary to give it, humanly speak- 
ing, the command of its own fortunes. 

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I 
am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sen- 
sible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have 
committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently 
beseech the Almisrhtv to avert or mitis^ate the evils to which 
they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope, that my 
■Countr}- will never cease to view them with indulgence ; and 



that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with 
an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be con- 
signed to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of 
rest. 

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actu- 
ated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a 
man, who views in it the native soil of himself and his progeni- 
tors for several generations ; I anticipate with pleasing expecta- 
tion that retreat, in which I promise myself to realize, without 
alloy, the sv/eet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my 
fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free 
government, the ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy 
reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. 

George Washington. 

United States, Septe77iher lytli. iyg6. 



The Farewell Address is here printed as given by Sparks, from a 
copy of " Claypoole' s American Daily Advertise}','''' for September 19th, 1796. 
On this paper are endorsed the following words in Washington's handwriting, 
which were designed as an instruction to the copyist, who recorded the Ad- 
dress in the letter book: "The letter contained in this gazette, addressed 
*To the People of the United States,' is to be recorded, and in the order of 
its date. Let it have a blank page before and after it, so as to stand distinct. 
Let it be written with a letter larger and fuller than the common recording 
hand. And where words are printed with capital letters, it is to be done so 
in recording. And those other words, that are printed in italics, must be 
scored underneath and straight by a ruler." "The copy from which the 
final draft w^as printed," says Sparks, "is now in existence. It was given 
by Washington himself to Mr. Claypoole, the printer. This manuscript, by 
the permission of Mr. Claypoole, I have examined, and it is wholly in the 
handwriting of Washington. It bears all the marks of a most rigid and la- 
borious revision. It is thus described by Mr. Claypoole : ' The manuscript 
copy consists of thirty- two pages of quarto letter-paper, sewed together as 
a book,, and with many alterations; as in some places whole paragraphs 
are erased, and others substituted; in others, many lines struck out; in 
others, sentences and words erased, and others interlined in their stead. 
The tenth, eleventh, and sixteenth pages are almost entirely expunged, sav- 
ing only a few lines ; and one half of the thirty-first page is also effaced.' " 

See Sparks's note on the authorship of the Farewell Address, in the 
appendix to vol. xii of his edition of the Writings of Washington, page 3S2. 
The draft prepared by Madison in 1792, at Washington's request, is here in- 
corporated, and the assistance rendered by Hamilton and Jay is discussed. 
"The question as to the manner in which the Address originated," observes 
Sparks, "is one of small moment, since its real importance consists in its 
being known to contain the sentiments of Washington, uttered on a solemn 
occasion, and designed for the benefit of his countrymen. Whether every 
idea embodied in it arose spontaneously from his own mind, or whether every 



i6 

word was first traced by his pen, or whether he acted as every wise mart 
would naturally act under the same circumstances, and sought counsel from 
other sources claiming respect and confidence, or in what degree he pur- 
sued either or all of these methods, are points so unimportant, compared 
with the object and matter of the whole, as to be scarcely worth considering. 
. . . My opinion is, that the Address, in the shape it now bears, is much 
indebted for its language and style to the careful revision and skilful pen of 
Hamilton ; that he suggested some of the topics and amplified others ; and* 
that he undertook this task not more as an act of friendship than from a 
sincere desire that a paper of this kind should go before the public in a form 
which would give it great and lasting utility. But I do not think that his 
aid, however valuable, was such as to detract from the substantial merit of 
Washington, or to divest him of a fair claim to the authorship of the address." 




#ID :§oiitlj %ca(\tt0< 



General Series, No. 38. 



Funeral Oration 

on 

Washington. 



By major general HENRY LEE. 



Delivered before the Two Houses of Congress, December 26. 

1799. 

In obedience to your will, I rife, your humble organ, with 
the hope of executing a part of the fyftem of public mourning 
which you have been pleafed to adopt, commemorative of the 
death- of the moft illuftrious and moft beloved perfonage this 
country has ever produced; and which, while it tranfmits to 
pofterity your fenfe of the awful event, faintly reprefents your 
knowledge of the confummate excellence you fo cordially 
honour. 

Defperate, indeed, is^any attempt on earth to meet corre- 
fpondently this difpenfation of Heaven ; for, while with pious 
refignation we fubmit to the will of an all-gracious Providence, 
we can never ceafe lamenting, in our finite view of Omnipotent 
Wifdom, the heart-rending privation for which our nation weeps. 
When the civilized world fliakes to its centre ;. when every mo- 
ment gives birth to ftrange and momentous changes ; when our 
peaceful quarter of the globe, exempt as it happily has been 
from any fliare in the flaughter of the human race, may yet be 
compelled to abandon her pacific policy, and to rifk the doleful 
cafiialties of war; what limit is there to the extent of our lofs ? 
None within the reach of my words to exprefs ; none which 
your feelings will not difavow. 

The founder of our federate republic — our bulwark in war, 
our guide in peace, is no more ! O that this were but queftion- 
ablel Hope, the comforter of the wretched, would pour into 
our agonizing hearts its balmy dew. But, alas ! there is no hope 



for us; our Wafliington is removed forever! PoffefTing the 
ftouteft frame and pureft mind, he had palled nearly to his fixty- 
eighth year in the enjoyment of high health, when, habituated 
by his care of us to neglect himfelf, a llight cold, difregarded, 
became inconvenient on Friday, oppreffive on Saturday, and, 
defying every medical interpolition, before the morning of Sun- 
day put an end to the beft of men. An end, did I fay? His 
fame furvives ! bounded only by the limits of the earth, and by 
the extent of the human mind. He furvives in our hearts — in 
the growing knowledge of our children — in the aflfedtion of the 
good throughout the world. And when our monuments fliall be 
done away; when nations now exifting fliall be no more; w^hen 
even our young and far-fpreading empire fliall have perifhed ; 
flill will our Waihington's glory unfaded fliine, and die not, 
until love of virtue ceafe on earth, or earth itfelf finks into 
chaos I 

How, my fellow-citizens, fliall I lingle to your grateful hearts 
his pre-eminent worth ? Where fliall I begin, in opening to 
your view a character throughout fublime ? Shall I fpeak of his 
warlike achievements, all fpringing from obedience to his coun- 
try's will, all directed to his country's good? 

Will you go with me to the banks of the Monongahela, to 
fee your youthful Wafliington fupporting, in the difmal hour of 
Indian viftory, the ill-fated Braddock, and faving, by his judg- 
ment and by his valour, the remains of a defeated army, preffed 
by the conquering favage foe ? or v/hen, opprelTed America nobly 
refolving to rifk her all in defence of her violated rights, he was 
elevated by the unanimous voice of Congrefs to the command 
of her armies? Will you follow him to the high grounds of 
Bofton, where, to an undifciplined, courageous and virtuous 
yeomanry, his prefence gave the ftability of fyflem, and infufed 
the invincibility of love of country? Or fliall I carry you to 
the painful fcenes of Long-Illand, York-Illand and New-Jerfey, 
when, combating fuperior and gallant armies, aided by powerful 
fleets, and led by chiefs high in the roll of fame, he ftood the 
bulwark of our fafety, undifmayed by difafter, unchanged by 
change of fortune? Or will you view him in the precarious 
fields of Trenton, where deep gloom, unnerving every arm, 
reigned triumphant through our thinned, worn down, unaided 
ranks — himfelf unmoved? Dreadful was the night. It was 
about this time of winter. The ftorm raged. The Delaware, 
rolling furioully with floating ice, forbade the approach of man. 
Wafhington, felf-colle(?ted, viewed the tremendous fcene. His 



country called. Unappalled by furrounding dangers, he paffed 
to the hoftile ihore ; he fought ; he conquered. The morning fun 
cheered the American world. Our country rofe on the event; 
and her dauntlefs Chief, purfuing his blow, completed in the 
lawns of Princeton what his valt foul had conceived on the 
fhores of Delaw^are. 

Thence to the ftrong grounds of Morriftown he led his fmall 
but gallant band ; and through an eventful winter, by the high 
efforts of his genius, whofe matchlefs force was meafurable only 
by the growth of difficulties, he held in check formidable hoftile 
legions, condu6fed by a chief experienced in the art of war, and 
famed for his valour on the ever memorable heights of Abraham, 
where fell Wolfe, INIontcalm, and fmce, our much lamented 
Montgomery; all covered with glory. In this fortunate inter- 
val, produced by his mafierly condu6l, our fathers, ourfelves, 
animated by his refiffclefs example, rallied around our country's 
Itandard, and continued to follow her beloved Chief through the 
various and trying fcenes to which the deftinies of our Union 
led. 

Who is there that has forgotten the vales of Brandywine, 
the fields of Germantown, or the plains of Monmouth .'' Every 
where prefent, wants of every kind obflru6fing, numerous and 
valiant armies encountering, himfelf a hoft, he affuaged our fuf- 
ferings, limited our privations, and upheld our tottering republic. 
Shall I difplay to you the fpread of the fire of his foul, by re- 
hearfmg the praifes of the hero of Saratoga, and his much loved 
compeer of the Carolinas ? No ; our Wafliington wears not 
borrowed glory. To Gates, to Greene, he gave without referve 
the applaufe due to their eminent merit ; and long may the 
chiefs of Saratoga and of Eutaws receive the grateful refped; 
of a grateful people. 

Moving in his own orbit, he imparted heat and light to his 
moffc diftant fatellites ; and combining the phyfical and moral 
force of all within his fphere, with irrefiftible weight he took his 
courfe, commiferating folly, difdaining vice, difma3dng treafon, 
and invigorating def pendency; until the aufpicious hour arrived, 
when, united with the intrepid forces of a potent and magnani- 
mous ally, he brought to fubmiffion the fmce conqueror of 
India ; thus iinifliing his long career of military glory with a 
luftre correfponding to his great name, and, in this his laft a6t 
of war, affixing the feal of fate to our nation's birth. 

To the horrid din of battle fweet peace lucceeded ; and our 
virtuous Chief, mindful only of the common good, in a moment 



tempting perfonal aggrandizement, huflied the difcontents of 
growing fedition, and, furrendering his power into the hands 
from whicli he had received it, converted his fword into a 
ploiighfliare ; teaching an admiring world that to be truly great 
you muft be truly good. 

Were I to flop here, the pi6lure would be incomplete, and 
the tafk impofed unfiniflied. Great as was our Wafliington in 
war, and as much as did that greatnefs contribute to produce 
the American republic, it is not in war alone his pre-eminence 
(lands confpicuous. His various talents, combining all the 
capacities of a ftatefman with thofe of a foldier, fitted him alike 
to guide the councils and the armies of our nation. Scarcely 
had he refted from his martial toils, while his invaluable parental 
advice was ffcill founding in our ears, when he, who had been 
our iliield and our fword, was called forth to a6t a lefs fplendid, 
but more important part. 

Poffeffing a clear and penetrating mind, a flrong and found 
judgment, calmnefs and temper for deliberation, with invincible 
firmnefs and perfeverance in refolutions maturely formed ; draw- 
ing information from all ; ailing from himfelf, with incorruptible 
integrity and unvarying patriotifm ; his own fuperiority and the 
public confidence alike marked him as the man defigned by 
Heaven to lead in the great political as well as military events 
which have diftinguiflied the era of his life. 

The finger of an over-ruling Providence, pointing at Wafti- 
ington, was neither miflaken nor unobferved, when, to realize 
the vaft hopes to which our revolution had given birth, a change 
of political fyflem became indifpenfable. 

How novel, how grand the fpe6lacle ! Independent States 
flretched over an immenfe territory, and known only by common 
difficulty, clinging to their union as the rock of their fafety; 
deciding, by frank comparifon of their relative condition, to rear 
on that rock, under the guidance of reafon, a common govern- 
ment, through whofe conmianding protection, liberty and order, 
with their long train of bleffings, fliould be fafe to themfelves, 
and the fure inheritance of their pofterity. 

This arduous tafk devolved on citizens fele6led by the 
people, from knowledge of their wifdom and confidence in 
their virtue. In this auguft affembly of fages and of patriots, 
Wafliington of courfe was found ; and, as if acknowledged to 
be moft wife where all were wife, with one voice he was de- 
clared their Chief. How well he merited this rare diftindion, 
how faithful were the labours of himfelf and his compatriots, the 



work of their hands, and our union, ftrength and profperity, the 

n^ut\*hire'lrentl.y"aided in presenting to his country 
this consummation of her Iropes, neither fatisfi^ed the claims of 
h s feUow-citizens on his talents, nor thofe duties wh.cli the 
noffeffion o Aofe talents impofed. Heaven had not infuled 
Wo h s mind fuch an uncommon Ihare of its ethereal fp.nt to 
re nan unemployed, nor beftowed on him his genius unaccom- 
panied with the^or'refponding duty of devoting it to .the com- 
mon ™od To have framed a Conftitution, was fliewing only, 
rthorf^alil^^ the general l-PP'"tdfaft i.rhlTprerenc ; 

■tirot^rce t^^onfd rSr flings u^n^aai. 
witn one joicti ^ . -^ adminiftration, to execute this 

young, the bra^e, the tair, n , delightful tcene was 

S i^S^frrts etaty tl^ «"=r^h",^e':Sr*o1 
zeat of the beftovvers and the avoidance of the receiver oi 

*'crnrndf.°hrs'adminiftration, what heart is not charmed 
with Sr recolleaion of the pure and wife principles announced 

^/oort[^"indil^:runttet>::rt[uranr^ 

fween duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an 

u:^a7Se^S:Cdr^^^^^^^^^^ 

in the unerring, immutable Pn"?'Ples of ^/^J^'^' ^.f^f^ent 
SllT the rrS^wSc\'^r rXal: ^rL^citizens, or 
command the refpea of the world. 

" O fortunatos nimium, fua fi bona norint! " 



mounted all original obftruction, and brightened the path of 
our national felicity. 

The prefidential term expiring, his folicitude to exchange 
exaltation for humility returned with a force increafed with 
increafe of age ; and he had prepared his Farewell Addrefs to 
his countrymen, proclaiming his intention, when the united 
interpolition of all around him, enforced by the eventful prof-' 
pe6ts of the epoch, produced a further facrifice of inclination 
to duty. The ele6tion of Prefident followed ; and Washington, 
by the unanimous vote of the nation, was called to refume the 
Chief Magiflracy, What a wonderful fixture of confidence ! 
Which attracts moft our admiration, a people fo correct, or a 
citizen combining an affemblage of talents forbidding rivalry, 
and ftifling even envy itfelf ? Such a nation ought to be happy; 
fuch a Chief muft be for ever revered. 

War, long menaced by the Indian tribes, now broke out ; 
and the terrible conflict, deluging Europe with blood, began to 
fhed its baneful influence over our happy land. To the firft, 
out-flretching his invincible arm, under the orders of the gallant 
Wayne, the American eagle foared triumphant through diftant 
forefts. Peace followed vi6fory ; and the melioration of the con- 
dition of the enemy followed peace. Godlike virtue ! which 
uplifts even the fubdued favage. 

To the fecond he oppofed himfelf. New and delicate was 
the conjun6ture, and great w^as the ffake. Soon did his pene- 
trating mind difcern and feize the only courfe, continuing to us 
all the felicity enjoyed. He iffued his proclamation of neutral- 
ity. This index to his whole fubfequent condu6l was fan6tioned 
by the approbation of both Houies of Congrefs, and by the 
approving voice of the people. 

To this fublime policy he inviolably adhered, unmoved by 
foreign intrufion, unfliaken by domeftic turbulence. 

" Juflum et tenacem propofiti virum, 
Non civium ardor prava jubentium, 
Non vultus inftantis tyranni, 
Mente quatit folida." 

Maintaining his pacific fyftem at the expenfe of no duty, 
America, faithful to herfelf, and unftained in her honour, con- 
tinued to enjoy the delights of peace, while affii6ted Europe 
mourns in every quarter under the accumulated miferies of an 
unexampled war ; miferies in which our happy country muft 
have fliared, had not our pre-eminent Wafliington been as firm 
in council as he was brave in the field. 



7 

Purfuing fleadfaftly his courfe, he held fafe the pubHc happi- 
nefs, preventing foreign war, and quelling internal difcord, till 
the revolving period of a third election approached, when he 
executed his interrupted, but inextinguifhable defire of returning 
to the humble walks of private life. 

The promulgation of his fixed refolution flopped the anxious 
wifhes of an afTedionate people from adding a third unanimous 
teftimonial of their unabated confidence in the man fo long 
enthroned in their hearts. When before was affection like this 
exhibited on earth ? Turn over the records of ancient Greece ; 
review the annals of mighty Rome ; examine the volumes of 
modern Europe — you fearch in vain. America and her Wafli- 
ington only afford the dignified exemplification. 

The illuftrious perfonage called by the national voice in 
fucceffion to the arduous office of guiding a free people had new 
difficulties to encounter. The amicable effort of fettling our 
difficulties with France, begun by Waffiington, and purfued by 
his fucceffor in virtue as in ffation, proving abortive, America 
took meafures of felf-defence. No fooner was the public mind 
roufed by a profpeft of danger, than every eye was turned to 
the friend of all, though fecluded from public view, and grey 
in .public fervice. The virtuous veteran, following his plough, 
received the unexpected fummons with mingled emotions of 
indignation at the unmerited ill treatment of his country, and 
of a determination once more to rifk his all in her defence. 

The annunciation of thefe feelino;s in his affedtinsf letter to 
the Prefident, accepting the command of the army, concludes 
his official conduct. » 

Firft in war, firft in peace, and firft in the hearts of his J 
countrymen, he was fecond to none in the humble and endear- 
ing fcenes of private life. Pious, juft, humane, temperate and 
fmcere ; uniform, dignified and commanding, his example was 
as edifying to all around him, as were the effects of that example 
lafting. 

To his equals he was condefcending, to his inferiors kind, 
and to the dear obje6t of his affe6tions exemplarily tender. 
Corre6t throughout, vice ffiuddered in his prefence, and- virtue 
always felt his foftering hand. The purity of his private char- 
after gave effulgence to his public virtues. 

His laft fcene comported with the whole tenor of his life. 
Although in extreme pain, not a ligh, not a groan elcaped him ; 
and with undifturbed ferenity he clofed his well-fpent life. 
Such was the man America has loft ! Such was the man for 
whom our nation mourns ! 



8 

Methinks I fee his auguft image, and hear, falling from his 
venerable lips, thefe deep finking words : 

" Cease, Sons of America, lamenting our feparalion. Go on, 
and confirm by your wifdom the fruits of our joint councils, 
joint efforts, and common dangers. Reverence religion; diffufe 
knowledge throughout your land ; patronize the arts and 
fciences ; let liberty and order be infeparable companions ; 
control party fpirit, the bane of free government; obferve good 
faith to, and cultivate peace with all nations; fliut up every 
avenue to foreign influence ; contract rather than extend 
national connexion ; rely on yourfelves only : be American in 
thought and deed. Thus will you give immortality to that 
union, which was the conftant obje6l of my terreftrial labours : 
thus will you preferve undifturbed to the lateft pofterity the 
felicity of a people to me moft dear; and thus will you fupply 
(if my happinefs is now aught to you) the only vacancy in the 
round of pure blifs high Heaven beftows." 



So short was Washington's illness that, at the seat of government, the 
intelligence of his death preceded that of his indisposition. It was first 
communicated by a passenger in the stage to an acquaintance whom he met 
in the street, and the report quickly reached the house of representatives 
which was then in session. The utmost dismay and affliction was displayed 
for a few minutes ; after which a member stated in his place the melancholy 
information which had been received. This information he said was not 
certain, but there was too much reason to believe it true. 

"After receiving intelligence," he added, "of a national calamity so 
heavy and afflicting the house of representatives can be but ill fitted for 
public business." He therefore moved an adjournment. Both houses 
adjourned until the next day. 

On the succeeding day, as soon as the orders were read, the same 
member addressed the chair in the following terms : 

" The melancholy event which was yesterday announced with doubt, 
has been rendered but too certain. Our Washington is no more ! the hero, 
the patriot, and the sage of America — the man on whom, in times of dan- 
ger, every eye was turned, and all hopes were placed — lives now only in his 
oun great actions, and in the hearts of an affectionate and afflicted people. 

" If, sir, it had even not been usual openly to testify respect for the 
memor}- of those whom heaven has selected as its instruments for dispensing 
good to man, yet, such has been the uncommon worth, and such the ex- 
traordinary incidents' which have marked the life of him whose loss we all 
deplore, that the whole American nation, impelled by the same feelings, 



would call, with one voice, for a public manifestation of that sorrow which 
is so deep and so universal. 

'* More than any other individual, and as much as to one individual 
was possible, has he contributed to found this our wide spreading empire, 
and to give to the western world independence and freedom. 

" Having effected the great object for which he was placed at the head 
of our armies, we have seen him convert the swoid into the ploughshare, 
and sink the soldier into the citizen. 

" When the debility of our federal system had become manifest, and 
the bonds which connected this vast continent were dissolving, we have seen 
him the chief of those patriots who formed for us a constitution, which, by 
preserving the union, will, I trust, substantiate and perpetuate those bless- 
ings which our revolution had promised to bestow. 

" In obedience to the general voice of his country calling him to pre- 
side over a great people, we have seen him once more quit the retirement 
he loved, and, in a season more stormy and tempestuous than war itself, 
with calm and wise determination, pursue the true interests of the nation, 
and contribute, more than any other could contribute, to the establishment 
of that system of policy, which will, I trust, yet preserve our peace, our 
honour, and our independence. 

** Having been twice unanimously chosen the chief magistrate of a free 
people, we have seen him, at a time when his re-election with universal 
suffrage could not be doubted, afford to the world a rare instance of mod- 
eration, by withdrawing from his high station to the peaceful walks of 
private life. 

" However the public confidence may change, and the public affections 
fluctuate with respect to others, with respect to him, they have, in war and 
in peace, in public and in private life, been as steady as his own firm mind, 
and as constant as his own exalted virtues. 

"Let us then, Mr. Speaker, pay the last tribute of respect and affection 
to our departed friend. Let the grand council of the nation display those 
sentiments which the nation feels. For this purpose I hold in my hand 
some resolutions which I take the liberty of offering to the house." 

The resolutions,^ after a preamble stating the death of General Wash- 
ington, were in the following terms : 

" Resolved, that this house will wait on the President in condolence of 
this mournful event. 

" Resolved, that the speaker's chair be shrouded with black, and that 
the members and officers of the house wear black during the session. 



' These resolutions were prepared by General Lee, who happening not to be in his place 
when the melancholy intelligence was received and first mentioned in the house, placed them 
in the hands of the member who moved them. 



lO 

" Resolved, that a committee, in conjunction with one from the senate, 
be appointed to consider on the most suitable manner of paying honour to 
the memory of the man first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of 
his fellow- citizens." ^ 

Immediately after the passage of these resolutions, a written message 
was received from the President, accompanying a letter from Mr. Lear, 
which he said, " will inform you that it had pleased Divine Providence to- 
remove from this life our excellent fellow- citizen, George Washington, by 
the purity of his life, and a long series of services to his country, rendered 
illustrious through the world. It remains for an affectionate and grateful 
people, in whose hearts he can never die, to pay suitable honour to his 
memory." 

To the speaker and members of the house of representatives who 
waited on him in pursuance of the resolution which had been mentioned, he 
expressed the same deep-felt and affectionate respect " for the most illus- 
trious and beloved personage America had ever produced." 

The senate, on this melancholy occasion, addressed to the President the 
following letter: 

" The senate of the United States respectfully take leave, sir, to express 
to you their deep regret for the loss their country sustains in the death of 
General George Washington. 

" This event, so distressing to all our fellow-citizens, must be peculiarly 
heavy to you who have long been associated with him in deeds of patriotism. 
Permit us, sir, to mingle our tears with yours. On this occasion it is manly 
to weep. To lose such a man, at such a crisis, is no common calamity to 
the world. Our country mourns a father. The Almighty disposer of hu- 
man events has taken from us our greatest benefactor and ornament. It 
becomes us to submit with reverence to Him who ' maketh darkness his 
pavilion.' 

" With patriotic pride we review the life of our Washington, and com- 
pare him with those of other countries who have been preeminent in fame. 
Ancient and modern names are diminished before him. Greatness and guilt 
have too often been allied ; but his fame is whiter than it is brilliant. The 
destroyers of nations stood abashed at the majesty of his virtues. It re- 
proved the intemperance of their ambition, and darkened the splendour of 
victory. The scene is closed — and we are no longer anxious lest misfortune 
should sully his glory; he has traveled on to the end of his journey, and 
carried with him an increasing weight of honour; he has deposited it safely 
where misfortune cannot tarnish it ; where malice cannot blast it. Favoured 



"^ Coimtrymeft is the word given, instead oi fellow-citizeii, in Benton's Abridgment of 
Congressional Debates, and in Gales and Seaton's Anji-ats of Congress. It is also the word 
used by General Lee in his eulogy. This is the first use of this famous expression. — Editor. 



of heaven, he departed without exhibiting the weakness of humanity ; 
magnanimous in death, the darkness of the grave could not obscure his 
brightness. 

"Such was the man whom we deplore. Thanks to God, his glory is 
consummated. Washington yet lives on earth in his spotless example — 
his spirit is in heaven. 

" Let his countrymen consecrate the memory of the heroic general, the 
patriotic statesman, and the virtuous sage; let them teach their children 
never to forget that the fruits of his labours and his example are their 
inheritance.'''' 

To this address the President returned the following answer : " I re- 
ceive, with the most respectful and affectionate sentiments, in this impres- 
sive address, the obliging expressions of your regret for the loss our country 
has sustained in the death of her most esteemed, beloved, and admired 
citizen. 

"In the multitude of my thoughts and recollections on this melancholy 
event, you will permit me to say that I have seen him in the days of adversity, 
in some of the scenes of his deepest distress and most trying perplexities. 
I have also attended him in his highest elevation and most prosperous 
felicity, with uniform admiration of his wisdom, moderation, and constancy. 

*' Among all our original associates in that memorable league of this con- 
tijiejit in 1774, which first expressed the Sovereign will of a Free Nation 
in America, he was the only one remaining in the general government. 
Although with a constitution more enfeebled than his, at an age when he 
thought it necessary to prepare for retirement, I feel myself alone, bereaved 
of my last brother; yet I derive a strong consolation from the unan'mous 
disposition which appears in all ages and classes to mingle their sorrows with 
mine on this common calamity to the world. 

" The life of our Washington cannot suffer by a comparison with those 
of other countries who have been most celebrated and exalted by fame. 
The attributes and decorations of royalty could only have served to eclipse 
the majesty of those virtues which made him, from being a modest citizen, a 
more resplendent luminary. Misfortune, had he lived, could hereafter have 
sullied his glory only with those superficial minds who, believing that char- 
acters and actions are marked by success alone, rarely deserve to enjoy it. 
Malice could never blast his honour, and Envy made hnn a singular excep- 
tion to her universal rule. P^or himself he had lived long enough to life and 
to glory — for his fellow- citizens, if their prayers could have been answered, 
he would have been immortal ; for me, his departure is at a most unfortunate 
moment. Trusting, however, in the wise and righteous dominion of Provi- 
dence over the passions of men, and the results of their councils and actions 
as well as over their lives nothing remains for me but hninble resignation. 

" His example is now complete ; and it will teach wisdom and virtue 



to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age, ln.t in future 
generations, as long as our history shall be read. If a Trajan found a Plinv 
a Marcus Aurelius can never want biographers, eulogists, or historians " 

The joint committee which had been appointed to devise the mode bv 
which the nation should express its feelings on this melancholy occasion re 
ported the following resolutions : ' 

J' That a marble monument be erected by the United States at the ritv 
of Washmgton and that the family of General Washington be requested to 
permit his body to be deposited under it; and that the monument be so 
designed as to commemorate the great events of his military and political 

" That thei^ be a funeral procession from congress hall to the German 
Lu heran church, m memory of General Washington, on Thursday, the 26th 
instant, and that an oration be prepared at the request of congress, to be 
delivered before both houses on that day; and that the president of ^he sen 
ate and speaker of the house of representatives, be desired to request one 
of the members of congress to prepare and deliver the same. 

"That it be recommended to the people of the United States to wear 
ciape on the left arm as a mourning for thirty days. 

" That the President of the United States be requested to direct a copy 
of these resolutions to be transmitted to Mrs. Washington, assuring her of the 
profound respect congress will ever bear to her person and character, of their 
condolence on the late affecting dispensation of Providence, and entreatin. 
her assent to the interment of the remains of General Washington in the 
manner expressed in the first resolution. 

" That the President be requested to issue his proclamation, notifying to 
the people throughout the United States the recommendation contained in 
the third resolution." 

These resolutions passed both houses unanimously, and those which 
would admit of immediate execution were carried into 'effect. The whole 
nation appeared in mourning. The funeral procession was grand and solemn, 
and the eloquent oration, which was delivered on the occasion by General 
Lee, was heard with profound attention and with deep interest. 

Throughout the United States similar marks of affliction were exhib- 
ited. In every part of the continent funeral orations were delivered, and 
the best talents of the nation were devoted to an expression of the nation's 
gneL — Mars/ia//'s Life of Washington. 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE DIRECTORS OF THE OLD SOUTH WORK, 
Old South Meeting House, Boston. 



